Self Support
by MahNati
Summary: It is usually said that you first need to love yourself, before loving others. Perhaps Robin shouldn't have taken that too literally.
1. Off to a great start

**Well, this fic has been in my head for a while. I actually want to thank my friend, niigoki, for encouraging me on going on with this idea, because she once said she'd rather see Robin kiss himself than make him marry Lucina (thank you for that image). And also because of Tune4Toons' fic "Battery Life", even though... Ah, never mind. Let's get this thing rolling and see where it gets.**

**This fic is also the greatest excuse I could find to use that S support pun. Yeah.**

**EDIT: Okay, I was supposed to put this a long time ago, but this story will contain spoilers for Fire Emblem: Awakening. I should have warned about this before and I'm really sorry for that.**

* * *

The silvery lights of the cloudy morning started to invade the dark bedroom, slowly waking up the white haired tactician that slept soundly in his bed. That was not to say that he actually wanted to get up from his bed and he just merely tossed to the side, trying to regain his slumber. That wasn't a hard thing to do for him, as he was perfectly capable of sleeping even in the middle of the road of a sunny day with no problem whatsoever. From what he could especulate, it would be a couple of hours until breakfast would be served, so maybe he could sleep for maybe one more hour and then use the other hour to wake up and prepare properly for the day.

Or that was his plan, until he heard low moans of distress and the sound of ruffling sheets from the other side of the room. Oh, well.

He could go back to sleep, but his consciousness would feel heavy if he let his roomate like that. Not to mention, it was hard to sleep with all the sound she was making. Taking a deep breath, he got up from his bed and rubbed his eyes, trying to shake off the sleep away. Time to wake up, Robin.

Robin walked towards the other bed in careful steps and making sure he wouldn't trip in a lost boot in the middle of the floor. Once he reached the bed, he sat down besides his sleeping roomate and gently put a hand on her shoulder and shook her awake.

"Hey, Robin," he whispered. "Are you alright?"

"Hmm..." she grunted with squinted eyes. "Ghnn... N-No..."

"Robin, you're having a nightmare," he continued. "Wake up!"

"AH!" the girl shot her eyes wide open and sat up in a jolt.

"It's okay, it's okay," he shushed her, trying to help her to back to breathing normally. "You were just dreaming."

"Ugh, Rob," she said pressing her hand on her forehand, brushing off the strands of white hair from her face. "Yeah, just a nightmare. Thanks for waking me up."

"Grima again?"

"Yeah."

Robin rubbed her eyes one, two, three times, but her mind eventually started working properly. How she hated waking up like this, especially because of a nightmare of something that she technically has never experienced in her life. Oh, the joys of being an exact clone of someone who had to go through hell and come back to tell the story. Robin could very well live her life just fine without retaining every single memory of the original Robin that resided in Ylisse and suffering unnecessary PTSD in consequence.

At least, she had her roomate and counterpart to wake her up every time. Especially from this particular dream.

Both her and the other Robin (who she called Rob just to diferentiate them) were newcomers to the Super Smash Bros fighting tournament, a rather curious event that happened every year in a place simply called Smash World, a realm created by a giant, disembodied floating hand, fittingly called Master Hand. This fighting tournament consisted of the most variated heroes, villains and warriors from the most diferent corners of the universe gathering together in the most dynamic arenas created to basically just beat the lights out of each other until there was only one champion.

Except actually getting the original heroes, villains and warriors and taking them out of their respective realities wasn't exactly a sensible thing to do. Something about keeping the balance of said worlds and how it would mess around with the natural order of them, Robin couldn't remember the exact details of what Master Hand had said to both her and Rob when came to be. So, in order to fix this, the hand decided to create an avatar for each fighter, a clone that could live in this particular world and participate in the fighting tournament that would retain the same memories, personalities and (sometimes a little tweaked) skills of their original counterparts.

And while Robin could understand the reason why their master gave them their personalities and memories, after all, who would find it interesting to see souless clones duking it out at each other without any motivation or purpose, Robin still found it counterproductive to make them carry on the extremely negative memories as well. Like the one where she almost lost her mind and body to a powerful god dragon of darkness and just basically almost screwed up her entire relationship with her comarades and friends and the whole world.

Especially that one.

Also, all the wars and bloodshed. She could also live without those memories as well.

She didn't care if that built character. Nothing could justify the horrible nightmares she and Rob kept getting almost every night because of the original Robins' past. But here they were, two versions of the same person, sharing the same trauma and the same hotel room. Having someone this close made her feel a lot better about her whole existence, if she was to be honest.

Robin was tired of those nightmares, but she could deal with them as long as Rob was there to wake her up.

Rob, who was already more awake than Robin, had already locked himself in the bathroom in order to change his clothes. Since the two were basically Robin, Master Hand thought that it really wouldn't matter if the two shared the same room, so the two were stuck in a routine of using the bathroom as a private point for changing. Because, yes, they both were Robin, but that still didn't change the fact that he was a man and she was a woman, and changing clothes in front of each other was beyond uncomfortable for both.

Once he finished putting on his heavy purple coat and boots, Robin knocked on the door. "Hey, Robin," he called out. "You finished there? Can I come out?"

"Hold on a sec', I'm almost done," her voice was muffled by the thick wood that separated them.

"You need help there?" he joked.

"Ha ha, you're hilarious," she replied sarcastically. "If you know what's good for you, you'll stay where you are."

Rob chuckled and decided to wash his face while he waited for her put her clothes on. Ever since the day Rob accidentally left the bathroom a little too early and saw Robin wearing nothing more than her tank top and her under clothes, leaving very little to one's imagination, he made sure to always ask if she was ready before leaving his changing spot.

It wasn't his fault, thought. How could he have imagined she took that long to change? If he took himself as a reference point, she shouldn't take more than ten minutes to change. And yet, there she was, seated on her bed, barely clothed, her very pale skin showing, her long white hair still down and messy from all the twisting and tossing around during the night, while she moaned quietly.

Anyway.

For someone with little physical strength and stamina, Robin sure knew how throw a punch when she was mad. Good thing she wasn't carrying one of their tomes.

He looked at himself in the mirror, searching for any signs of tiredness still present. Thankfully, he seemed presentable for the day enough. He ran his index finger through his eyes, nose and then mouth absentmindely, taking in every feature of his face and then unconcsciously comparing to Robin's. Why he did that almost every morning, he really couldn't know, but he never paid that much attention to it.

"Okay, I'm done," Robin said, knocking on the door. "Open up, Rob. I need to brush my teeth."

Took her long enough. Rob opened the door and allowed her to enter, stepping aside so she would have the sink to herself. By the looks of things, she only seemed awake, because by the way her toothbrush missed her mouth at least three times, and how she didn't seem to bother opening her eyes, Robin was still half-asleep. He knew exactly what to say to wake her up, though. "Oh, yeah, Robin," he said, making her lazily turn her head to him. "Don't forget Master Hand said he wanted us to meet at his office later."

"Aw, crap," she groaned and then spit the toothpaste on the sink. "Completely forgot about that! Way to start the day, uh?"

"At least, we don't have matches today."

"That doesn't make me feel better. I'm sure nothing good can come from this meeting with him."

The two had been living in the Smash Hotel for only two months and got to talk to their master only twice, so the only reference of Master Hand's personality and quirks were from the veteran Smashers that were more familiar with him. And one of these "quirks" was that, unless some major rules were broken, Master Hand would never go out of his way to speak to a Smasher in particular. It was always the Smasher who had to go after him if they were having a problem.

Rob had no idea what they could have done that would cause trouble to themselves or others. They haven't broken any rules, as far as he could tell. The tournament hasn't even started properly for them to break any rules, they have only been attending obligatory unofficial matches to sharpen their skills.

Maybe he wanted to tell them good news. Maybe he wanted to announce he had decided to bring in Chrom to the live with them, instead of making him appear as only a projection for their Final Smash. Maybe he decided to give separate rooms for them.

Scratch that one. Rob didn't want that to happen. He liked sharing rooms with Robin, despite the minor inconviniences.

Neither him or Robin were looking forward to their talk to Master Hand, but their curiosity also made them wish the time of their encounter arrived soon. "Well, it can't be that bad," Robin said, trying her best to remain optmistic.

"I hope so."

"Come on," she said, putting a hand on his shoulder. "Let's go grab breakfast, before we're too late."

"Too late? We woke up early this time."

"You really wanna risk getting behind DeDeDe, Kirby or Yoshi in the line?"

"You have a point. Let's go."

* * *

**This chapter is relatively short compared to my usual ones, but I just wanted to have this as an introduction and nothing else. Also, I think this is my first fic where I decide to not use the Smash mansion as the Smashers' residency and that still feels very surreal for me. Seriously, who came up with the mansion idea and how did it stick so well with this fandom?**


	2. There can be only one

**Wow, I'm actually surprised at how positive people were to this fic! Thank you guys for the review, favorites and follows, I hope I don't disappoint you! **

**Also, I've been watching Let's Play videos of Xenoblade Chronicles, so I hope I got Shulk's personality right, since I want to make the Smashers stay in-character as much as possible. The exception will be those who really don't have much of a personality to begin with, so I can take more liberty with their characterization.**

**So I guess that's it.**

* * *

"You two are up early this morning," commented the blond that sat alone on one of the cafeteria's tables.

"Robin had a nightmare," Rob said placing his plate on the table.

"Oh, yes, let's blame Robin's nightmares for waking up early."

"What can I do if it's true?"

"You two should do this more often. Your days would last longer and it would be more productive."

"No," the two said in unison.

Shulk shrugged his shoulders and went back to eating his toast as the two Robins sat down to eat too. Unlike his friends, he enjoyed waking up a little before the sun came out just so he could watch the sunrise whenever it was possible. Thanks today's the cloudy morning, though, Rob could already imagine today wasn't a very good day for sunrise watching for Shulk. He would feel bad for him, but it was still too early for him to feel anything else other than wanting to get back to his bed.

"So, what are your plans for today?" Shulk asked.

"Get yelled by Master Hand, possibly," Robin said, eating her cereal. "Maybe hit the mall later, if I'm not dead by then."

"Why would Master Hand want to talk to you?" Shulk asked.

"Beats me, I don't look forward to it either," Rob answered tiredly. "Something good it can't be. You know, considering how everyone says he is."

"At least, we don't have any fights today."

"Wow, lucky! I have about four today, one of them being a five-minute free-for-all against Bowser, Charizard and Ganondorf."

"Sucks to be you, Shulk," Robin smirked.

Robin and Shulk continued doing small talk as they ate breakfast, while Rob continued eating his food in silence, not really in the mood to get in the middle of the conversation.

"Morning guys," Yoshi greeted as he passed by, carrying two bows filled with fruits.

"Yoshi! Yoshi, come here," Robin motioned for the green dinosaur to sit with them.

"Eh, sorry, I'm already eating with Kirby and..."

"Okay, but just answer something. You're a a full-time veteran, right?"

"Uh, yeah."

"So you know Master Hand well, right? How screwed is someone if they are called by Master Hand for a talk?"

From the way Yoshi winced, that could only mean they should embrace for the worst.

"Did you break any rules?" Yoshi asked the obvious.

"As far as we know, no," Rob answered.

"Really?"

"Yes."

"Are sure?" the little green dinosaur eyed him suspiciously.

"I'm sure."

"Then maybe he just has an important thing to say that will only interest you, I dunno. Sometimes Master Hand likes to do nice stuff for the Smashers. You didn't break any rules, so you don't need to worry."

And with that, Yoshi bid his farewells and eagerly left the three Smashers in order to finally eat his fourth bow of fruits.

"My fight begins soon," Shulk announced once breakfast was over. "Wish me luck."

"I wish you a painless death," Rob mocked.

"We'll see about that."

The two watched the Homs leave to his doom with twin smirks on their faces. Poor Shulk had a big storm coming and they could only hope Bowser wouldn't crush him too badly. He had his ability to see into the future, though, so maybe he did strive a chance. As for the Robins, they still needed to go see Master Hand, so they decided to end that quickly and visit him as soon as they left the cafeteria.

Their master's office was kind of tricky to find and it was hard for anyone who wasn't a Smasher or an acquaintance to Master Hand to accidentally stumble upon it. Rob and Robin had to cross the entire front hall of the enormous building and get into one of the various elevators, the same ones they took to reach the floor where their room was. Once they reached the sixth floor, they had to take the exclusive elevator located at the far left of the corridor, the only one that had a device beside it that required the person to swap a card to make it work. Using the emergency stairs to reach the seventh floor was of no use, because there were no emergency stairs to the seventh floor.

Rob used to wonder wherever it was a good idea to not include an alternative way to reach the office, but really, when the only thing in this floor was only the room of the big boss who could fly off the window in case of an emergency, Rob still thought it was a rather stupid idea.

"Well, it's now or never," Robin said, raising her hand to the fancy mahogany door.

Before she could even knock, they heard Master Hand's voice boom from the other side. "Please, do come in," he said, rather calmly. Maybe Yoshi was right and they weren't in trouble. Master Hand sure didn't sound that angry. Either that, or he held the world record on passive-aggressiveness.

Rob and Robin entered the spacious office in cautious steps, only taking a seat when they saw him motioning for them to sit down. They stood there in an agonizing silence for solid ten second until Master Hand realized he would have to be the one to start talking.

"Hello, Robin," he greeted. "First of all, how are you? Adapting well to this lifestyle?"

"Nothing we can complain," Rob said.

"Good, good," Master Hand mused, slightly moving his fingers as if nodding. "And I will take that you have been practicing hard for the upcoming Super Smash Bros tournament, am I correct?"

"Oh, absolutely."

"Why did you call us here?" Robin asked.

"I was going to get there. Robin, when this tournament starts, I hope you understand that you two are going to occupy the same fighter slot."

"Yes, we are aware of that," she nodded. "You said so before."

And seemed to like to remind them quite a lot too, considering he never bothered in addresing them separately, except when trying to make a point that they were the same character.

"As such, we need to determine who will be the default Robin, who will be the deviation, before the tournament starts."

"W-What?" they stuttered in unison.

"It shouldn't come to a surprise to you that we would have to deal with this issue sooner or later. We are only two weeks from the tournament, and we still haven't decided which of you would be the official one. We really need to get this problem over with in time for the beginning of the tournament."

"But why can't we both be official?" Robin asked.

"The only way possible would be if you had a fighting style similar to Rosalina and Luma, or the former fighters Ice Climbers," Master Hand said ever so calmly.

"Okay, we can do it like that! It would be just like the Pair Up system we used to have back during the war battles we were in and..."

"The Pair Up system is already being used as your Final Smash with Chrom," the hand interrupted Rob. "And no, I do not believe it would work for you as your regular fighting style. Believe me when I say that this is for the best. You two shall compete in a series of five battles to determine who is best suited to the position of official."

"But why determine a default? What does the default do?" Robin asked.

"For starters, it is their image who will make most public appearances and they are the ones that participate in most fights and earn more money. That isn't to say that the deviation doesn't get their fair share of glory and riches, but it is considerably less," Master Hand explained. "In short, the default is considered the real Smashers, while the deviation is just an alternative fighter, just to bring more diversity to the tournament, but not necessarily being as important."

Each word spoken by their master seemed to cut their hearts like a dagger. How could he say that in such a casual tone to them, when he knew one of them would be demoted as a mere palette swap of the other and nothing else? His tone of voice remained so casual, almost as if it was no big deal, yet to the Robins, the possibility of becoming just an accessory to the other sounded a lot worse than he was making it out to be.

Rob cast a worried glance at Robin, who in return, mirrored the gesture at him. He really didn't want to dispute the title of default with her. He didn't want to lose, of course, but he didn't want to win also. Making Robin become only a gender swap version of himself, with no real identity, rubbed off on him in all the wrong ways, and vice-versa.

"Are there any other Smashers who are going to do this, also?" Rob asked, after realizing he had no proper answer.

"No, all other character slots already have their defaults," Master Hand said. "The "Wii Fit Trainer" has the female trainer and "Villager" has the boy with the red shirt as their default. Since he is the prince of the Koopas and heir to the throne, I have put Bowser Jr. as the default and all of the Koopalings as his alternatives. As for Alph, since Olimar is already a veteran, it wouldn't make sense to make him the default and demote Olimar to deviation."

"Then... Why make only us compete for the spot?" Rob was genuinely confused. "You have already decided who would be what, then why make us fight each other?"

"I have tried deciding. Believe me, Robin," the hand sighed. "I have been wondering ever since I have created you; yet, I couldn't come to a decision. No matter which gender you were, you always had an impact in the fate of your world in you original's timelines. Unlike all the other fighters, you are the most similar to each other as Smashers. And, well, I can't simply make this decision based on your gender."

"Lord knows you don't need more outcries of sexism from people, uh?" Robin commented.

"I already had enough of that in Brawl. The last thing I need is people complaining about me giving preference to the male gender," he said. "Anyway, here is what we are going to do: on the next week, you two are to have one fight per day, from Monday to Friday, totalizing five fights. They are not going to be your regular brawls, but I won't give any details about them at the moment. For now, I only want you to enjoy the weekend, and I expect to see you back here in my office on Monday," Master Hand then floated towards the door. "That is all for today. You are dismissed."

The tacticians muttered their goodbyes and left the office with a weird and heavy atmosphere between them. They didn't exchange a word while taking the elevators back to the ground floor. They didn't even look at each other in the eye, almost as if they felt guilty over a situation that they had no control over.

It was only when they reached the front hall when Robin decided to break the silence. "Well, that was something," she said, rubbing the back of her neck. "What now?"

"We do as he says and fight to see who will be the default, I suppose," Rob groaned. "Just for the record, I don't look forward to it."

Yeah, me neither," she frowned. "The whole concept of default and deviation makes me uneasy. Like, one of us will just become the other's shadow, you know?"

"Exactly what I was thinking!" Rob said, before pausing awkwardly. "Well... I guess it could be worse, now that I think about it."

"Why?"

"We know Master Hand created both of us because he thought we were both worthy," he said sheepishly. "He could have just created only me or you and called it a day. Instead, he went with both of us."

"Oh... I guess you have a point there," Robin let out a small groan. "Doesn't mean I like this idea of having to fight for the default spot, though."

"I know."

There was another pause between them, until Rob found Robin's hand suddenly resting on his cheek, her fingers softly caressing it and sending a pleasant tingling sensation through his spine. "Look, whatever happens in these fights we're going to have, I don't want you to treating me any differently because of them, okay?" she said, immediately taking her hand off from his face once she noticed the awkward look he gave at her. "Ah, sorry. Force of habit."

_Since when?_ he thought. He could practically read it on her forehead that she was lying.

"Anyway, looks like we have the today and the whole weekend free. You want to go out and do something? We can go to that new bookstore that opened at the mall the other day."

"Sorry, I promised Lucina I would spar with her once her match with the Duck Hunt trio was over," Rob apologized.

"Don't you two ever get tired of practicing all the time?" Robin asked in an exhasprated tone. "Isn't she tired of you throwing Thoron attacks at her?"

"Apparently not," he smirked. "Why? Are you jealous?"

"You wish!" she laughed and gave him a light punch on the shoulder. "Okay then, have fun getting stabbed. I'll find someone else who is free to go with me."

The two then went on their separate ways.

* * *

Of all the people that Robin expected to come with her to the mall, the Wii Fit Trainer (or Whitney, as she insisted on being called) was one of the least likely to cross her mind. But beggars couldn't be choosers, and spending time with her was way better than being some loser that sat by herself in the coffee shop because all your friends were occupied with training and killing each other in simulation rooms.

Granted, Whitney spending time with Robin wasn't what she had in mind first. The trainer just so happened to also have planned on going to the mall to buy new fitness clothes and, after accidentally bumping into Robin, decided to join her, since both had the same destination in mind.

Which was why Robin was now helping the trainer with picking up clothes, instead of doing what she wanted initially.

"Okay, which one do you prefer?" Whitney asked, showing her two identical green tank tops. "This one or this one?"

"Aren't they the same?"

"The color may make it look like they are the same, but they really aren't," she said, hanging the two pieces of clothes to Robin. "Check out their fabric and you'll understand what I mean."

Robin understood what she meant once she inspected the tank tops better. One was made of a much lighter fabric than the other. Robin couldn't exactly tell what they were made of, but she got what Whitney was talking about. "Well, choose whatever you'd feel more comfortable wearing," she answered in the best way she could.

"I don't know..."

"You could always buy both, if you're not struggling with money," the tactician suggested.

"Um, no, I'll just buy one," she said, putting back the one Robin assumed to be made of cotton. "What about you, Robin? Won't you buy anything?"

"Maybe not today. I didn't bring enough money to buy more than a couple of books."

Once Whitney finished paying for her clothes, the two Smashers left the sports shop and just wandered around the mall until Robin suggested they'd go buy some ice-cream. Whitney, despite being known for being a fitness junkie, agreed (if only out of politeness) and the two went to the nearest ice-cream shop.

"Say, Whitney," Robin said, while they waited in line. "You are sharing the fighter slot with your brother, aren't you?"

"My brother... Oh, you mean Will?" Whitney muffled a giggle. "Robin, he's not my brother. He's my husband."

"I-I'm so sorry about that!" the tactician exclaimed. If her face could get any redder, it would have gotten with no problem. "I thought..."

"You're not the first one who makes this mistake and you won't be the last, so don't worry."

"Anyway, you are sharing the same fighter slot with Will, right?"

"Yes, we are."

"Did Master Hand say something to you about you being the default fighter and your husband being the deviation?" she asked, switching glances between Whitney and the Mii that was attending her.

"Yeah, he did," Whitney crossed her arms. "But that was way in the beginning of our training. Why are you asking this?"

"Just out of curiosity, did he make you two compete to see who would be better suited to represent the fighter slot?"

"No, he just said I was automatically the default and we didn't have a say in what he decided," Whitney said. "You should have seen how bitter poor Will got. He's much better now, but I can't blame his frustration."

"Um, I see..." she mumbled and then pointed at the green ice-cream in front of her. "Pistachio, please."

"Why did you ask that?"

"Master Hand is planning on making Rob and me compete for the spot. We're as excited as I'm making it sound."

"That's weird. I don't recall him doing this to anyone else."

"Apparently, we're a special case."

Whitney waited for her to finish paying for the ice-cream, not really in the mood to join her in eating the cold junk food and ruin her strict diet, and continued talking once they left the shop. "Robin, what is your relationship to Rob, anyway?" she asked. "Are you two twins?"

"We're not siblings," she quickly denied. "But I don't know how to explain what we are to each other without making it confusing."

"You can try."

"Rob and I are basically the same person."

"What?"

Robin sighed and ate her ice-cream. From Whitney's tone of voice, she could already see that she would take a while to explain.

* * *

**Okay, so here are some things I want to explain about this chapter:**

**-Master Hand, despite claiming he didn't want to be gender biased, did choose the female Wii Fit Trainer because of their gender. For the Wii Fit Trainer, it was because their symbol was of a woman, so it would feel weird to make the male the default when the symbol of representation of their series was already a woman. As for the boy Villager, I have the feeling he only chose him because he has the number 1 on his shirt. Master Hand can be kind of a dick sometimes.**

**-There really isn't anything symbolic behind the names Whitney and Will. I'm using these names because they fit the characters and I wanted them to be puny.**

**-Despite recent games not showing much, Yoshi can actually talk.**

**-I kind of wanted to write about Lucina and Rob's training session, but I guess I just wasn't feeling it enough. I plan on giving her a bigger role (plan being the key word, I don't know what might happen) later, but not now.**

**-Speaking of Rob, I can't bring myself to call him Reflet, even though it is a lot more distinct and doesn't make it look like he has the same name of R.O.B. It is exactly because it's more distinct that doesn't appeal to me as much. **

**Thanks again for reading! **


	3. Not unique enough to be your own person

**I swear I'm trying to keep the updates constant. I'm not sure if this will be possible once my classes start, but let's see if I can keep this up.**

* * *

The metallic sound of blade clashing against blade echoed through one of the training rooms that was located underground the gym. Despite being a room that simulated the Wii Fit Studio, it was a very popular training place for sword users, due to its soothing atmosphere and the fact that there was a huge mirror that covered an entire wall that was used to observe their own performance and take note on what they could do to improve.

Lucina dashed forward and tried hitting the swordsman in front of her with Dancing Blade, but was caught by surprise by a sudden counter attack and got sent flying away a good couple of meters away from him, falling on the floor right on her back. "Ow," she winced. "I need to remember how powerful your counters are."

Marth let out a chuckle and offered a hand to the girl on the floor, who very gratefully accepted it. "You are doing well, Lucina. If I didn't react in time, I would be in big trouble," he said as he helped her get up.

"I... Thank you," the young princess said, a clear spark on her eyes. To receive a compliment from the Hero King himself was one of the best things she could hear all day.

"How about we stop for now?"

"Already?" her happy expression dropped immediately.

"Lucina, we've been practicing for thirty minutes," Marth sighed. "I need my lunch break, you know?"

"Just one more time! It can be a two-minute match!"

"Lucina, just let Marth rest. I think we can all agree that training non-stop won't do any good to your health."

Lucina turned her attention to the white-haired mage that was seated with his back rested on the mirror wall, his legs crossed and with one of his tomes open on his lap. For someone who claimed to be tired before, he now seemed well rested and could return to his training with her. She only let her friend off the hook because she was fortunate enough to have Marth and Kirby suddenly appear and say that they were planning on using that room for practicing too. She thought Robin would then practice with Kirby, but that ended up not being the case, as the pink puffball was more concerned on taking a nap on top of his head.

"You know, Robin, you could start taking your practice sessions more seriously?" the girl scoffed.

"I am taking it seriously," Rob said, his eyes still glued on the pages. "But after an hour of doing nothing but fighting, you need to take a break after a while."

"I..."

"Besides, look at Kirby here," he pointed his finger at the snoozing puffball on his head. "He doesn't seem to have any problems with resting."

"Robin, he is drooling on your hair," Marth commented.

"Yeah... Let's not mention this."

"Kirby is an entirely different species than us," Lucina protested. "You can't compare him to me."

"But he's still a Smasher like us," Marth said, putting a hand on his descendant's shoulder. "And I agree with Robin about you following his example. We had enough for today, let's return to the hotel."

Lucina wanted to protest, but seeing that she was the only one who still wanted to continue, she could do nothing but conform. After Rob carefully woke Kirby up and got him off from his head, a trail of saliva connecting his mouth to his hair, the four Smashers let the room and took the stairs up to the ground floor. Compared to how calm and empty the training studio was, the ground floor was overcrowded with eager Miis who couldn't afford to practice on the real stages, so they went with what they could get, and that was the gym they were currently in.

Though, overcrowded was an exaggeration, because there couldn't be more than ten Miis there, counting the lady behind the reception counter.

To Rob, building that gym was actually a great idea Master Hand had. From what he had heard from the veterans, up until Brawl, finding a good stage to practice for as long as they wanted was rather difficult. Mostly because the stages were usually either being used for official matches or constantly under repair and cleaning because of all the mayhem that usually occurred there. Having a separate building with a bunch of copies of more neutral stages with the same safety system was a given to those who were really eager to practice.

It also helped that the building was located just a block away from their hotel, so slacking off because of the lack of a good place for practicing was not an excuse anymore. The only downside was that there was no items option.

"Poyo, wait!" Kirby called out, making the three swordsmen turn to him. "Meta Knight training upstairs. Poyo, let's wait him."

"Oh, alright, I will wait with you," Marth said, waving to the other two. "Lucina, Robin, you can go ahead, if you want to."

Not really in the mood for waiting for Meta Knight to finish stabbing the cotton guts out of Sandbag, Rob and Lucina agreed with him and left the building.

A gust of cold wind hit the tactician's face like a hard slap and his ears suddenly were assaulted by the loud noises of the busy big city life that seemed to overwhelm them as soon as they stepped out of the building. He almost considered going back and telling Lucina that he would endure her training regimen just so he could go back to the calm and soothing Wii Fit studio, but after feeling that Kirby's drool was starting to dry and make his hair even stickier, he really wanted to go back to his room and take a shower.

Despite being only one block away from the hotel, their walking back felt almost like a journey. What tired him was not much the return, but it was just the mere thought that it took longer for him to reach his room located at the end of the right corridor on the fifth floor from the lobby, than actually reaching the hotel.

"I still think we should have stayed more," Lucina commented, her arms crossed and her eyes looking at the tall buildings in mild discomfort. Looks like Rob wasn't the only one who still needed to get used to the new environment they were living in.

"You are doing fine, Lucina," he replied in a comforting tone. "Your skills are almost equal to Marth."

"That is exactly the problem. Almost is not good enough."

"Marth is a skilled veteran, who has been in this business for a long time, while you still need to participate in your first tournament. Trust me, you will be fine."

"I just wish my fighting style was as good as his."

"Your fighting style is already the same as his," Rob paused for a moment, his brows furrowing at the sentence. "In fact, there really is no difference between you and Marth, is there?"

"Um, well, the strength I put in Falchion is more balanced," the princess said. "The Hero King's strength lies more on the tip of his sword. Which is tricky, because I need to keep a certain distance, of closeness, depending on the case and..."

"But on a superficial level, you fight exactly like him."

"Well, yes. Though it does makes sense, doesn't it? I did borrow his identity for quite some time before," she said, turning her head to him. "Why are you saying this?"

Rob wanted to ask how Master Hand stopped seeing Lucina as just a character swap from Marth, but had that nagging feeling he would just end up offending her by implying she was not sufficiently unique and undeserving of her spot as a Smasher.

"Just forget it," he simply said.

"Are you okay, Robin?"

The two finally arrived at the hotel, a sudden wave of relief washing over them once they entered the warm and much quieter lobby. "Yeah, I guess I'm just tired after our training," he lied, giving her the most natural smile. "And I also need a shower. I think Kirby's saliva is starting to get into my brain."

"Robin, you know you can tell me anything, right?" she eyed him suspiciously. "I can see that you are not telling me the truth. What is it so bad that you can't even tell me?"

"It's not something terrible, per say," the tactician admitted. "It's just that I was wondering if there was a way to make me and Robin have two fighter slots."

"And what does this have to do with me?"

"You were supposed to share Marth's spot, weren't you?"

"Yes, I was," she said raising an eyebrow. "You want to know how I got to be a separate fighter, so you and the other Robin can try the same thing?"

"Sort of?"

"Robin, I don't want to be overly pessimistic, but it isn't going to work."

"Why not?"

"Because the only reason I got to be a separate Smasher was because of the difference in our physical strength," she said bitterly. "And even then, it took him a while to agree. You and the other Robin are equal in every way possible. What kind of argument would you use?"

"I was hoping of using whatever argument you made, but since you said it was useless..." Rob sulked. "I guess I really am going to have to compete with her for the default spot."

"Compete?" Lucina asked in surprise.

"Master Hand said we would have to face against each other in a series of battles, starting Monday. Best out of five, whoever wins will be the default," he explained nonchalantly.

"Um, it is pretty odd that he decided to do this, but he must have had a good reason."

"The good reason is that he probably thinks it would be hilarious to pit Robin against Robin."

"I don't think that's it," she said, the other's sarcasm passing completely through her head. Lucina then gave him a confident smile. "But I have faith that you can win! I believe in you."

"Thanks... I guess."

Rob still felt a heavy weight in his consciousness, but by how much Lucina was trying to encourage him, he didn't have the heart to tell her he didn't want to compete for the spot. He didn't know why he was so hesitant and he didn't feel like discussing this with Lucina. She already had so much in her mind, Rob didn't feel right to talk about something even he didn't have a full grasp on.

Things weren't starting to look good for his hair. Why did he let Kirby sleep on top of his head again? Oh, right, he had very adorable eyes. He needed that shower now urgently thanks to them.

The two parted ways and Robin started his long journey back to his room, greeting a Mii or another as he passed by them. After one lucky empty elevator trip and a not so lucky walk through the massive L-shaped corridor in which he encountered Princess Peach asking him why his hair looked so sticky, Rob had finally managed to reach his room. Thankfully, Robin wasn't there, so he could have the room all to himself. And by all to himself, that meant he could just take off his clothes wherever and worry about picking them up only later.

With Robin there, he usually had to be more careful with his belongings, not because Robin would throw a fit or anything, but because she also had the terrible habit of just placing her robes in random places. All the care and organization they had when arranging their books, tomes and weapons was compensated by the lack of consideration for their other stuff.

It wasn't uncommon for the two to accidentally wear each other's coats or belts, and that could get annoying after a while.

He grabbed the towel that was neatly folded on his bed and then entered the bathroom.

* * *

Robin let out a tired sigh and passed her key card on the door's lock to enter her room, a bag with books dangling from her hand, almost falling from her fingertips. She made a mental note to herself to avoid returning from the mall with Whitney in the future. The yoga instructor absolutely refused to take a bus back to the hotel and forced Robin to walk all the way back to the hotel with her. Sure, it took only fifteen minutes of walking a straight line and turn right around the corner, so it shouldn't be that much of a problem, but the long avenue was very inclined and made the tactician feel like she was walking up a set of stairs for fifteen minutes.

Would take a bus back really hurt? it wasn't her who ate ice cream, anyway.

The tactician opened the door and walked inside the room. She furrowed her thin eyebrows at the sight of Rob's clothes sprawled all over the floor and bed. Those weren't there when she first left this morning, she could remember them leaving their room in perfect order when they left in the morning. So that could only mean...

She heard the click from the doorknob and saw Rob leaving the bathroom, completely soaked wet.

Now, if he had that towel just wrapped around his waist, instead of using it to rub on his hair to dry it, leaving the rest of his body to no imagination at all, she might have just turned around in embarrassment. But he didn't. And, well, male counterpart or not, seeing him stark naked like that really did bring in the heat to her cheeks and chest.

And that was the heat of indignation.

"What's the meaning of this?!" she shrieked as she threw her books at him.

"Robin?! Ouch!" he winced, covering himself from her attacks. "I-I thought you would..."

"By the gods, have some decency and cover yourself already!"

He did was he was told without a second thought and wrapped the towel around his waist. "Was it really necessary for you to throw your stuff at me?" he asked.

"Yes."

"You know I didn't do it on purpose," Rob groaned, picking up the books that were now open on the floor. "Would it kill you to just turn around?"

"I... No," she admitted, taking the books from his hands, but still avoiding eye contact. "Just... Be more careful next time, alright?"

"How was I supposed to know you would return so soon?"

"How was I supposed to know you would be taking a bath in the middle of the afternoon?" she refuted. "Why were you taking a bath anyway?"

"I've felt like it."

"Right... You're not going to change in the bathroom?"

"I was here first," Rob shrugged his shoulders. "You know how I don't like changing in such a tiny space. If you have problem, you go hide."

"That's stupid! I'm not going to do that, when you're the only one who needs privacy," she crossed her arms. "You sure you're okay with me here?"

"Stop making such a drama. I trust you," he smirked. "Unless you're actually interested in peeking?"

"Just go change yourself already," Robin quickly went to sit over her bed with her back to him.

Rob didn't know if it was his impression, but he could swear that Robin seemed way too worked up in this situation. He could understand why, but not to this magnitude. He wouldn't lie to himself and say that he was completely fine with changing in front of her, but for crying out loud, it shouldn't be this uncomfortable. They shared the same room, the same name and the same past, he shouldn't feel like a complete stranger to her.

In all honesty though, he shouldn't enjoy seeing her flustered like this. She looked kind of cute. Rob kept casting quick glances at her while he put on his shirt and pants, half-expecting a tentative turn of head from the other, but she remained firm in her position, looking more like a statue than a person.

The silence between the two became unbearable at that point. Robin couldn't understand what was taking him so long, however, maybe it was her own nervousness that made time seem to pass slower. "So, how was your training with Lucina?" she asked rather quietly.

"Good, I guess," Rob answered as her walked towards her. "She's very nervous, so she's trying to practice at every given opportunity."

"Heh, that's really like her."

"You can turn around now, you know? Unless seeing my bare arms and feet makes you embarrassed," the male tactician joked.

Robin gave a sheepish smile and turned around. She saw him wearing much more casual clothing compared to what he usually wore during the day for a battle, and she would have asked why, but then she remembered that they wouldn't be having any kind of brawls in the next couple of days, so it only made sense for him to not bother putting on his heavy and complicated attire.

"Sorry for overreacting," Robin apologized as she brought her book to her chest. "And for hitting you in the face."

"It's okay," he said, sitting by her said and causing her to slightly inch away. "I'm sure it was all payback for me accidentally walking on you before."

"Yeah, it was exactly that. Now we're even," she joked along.

Rob tried to let out a chuckle, but no sound escaped from his mouth. There was something strange that stirred on his chest, though he didn't know exactly why. It wasn't the first time he felt like that, but something about the awkward silence they were in, just the two of them alone and him being this close to her, it just made the sensation stronger now.

That worried him, to say the least.

Robin's face at that point became completely blank and she seemed to demonstrate no emotion whatsoever, her mind drifting off to somewhere else. He tried to get a silent answer from those sharp brown eyes of hers, with little to no results.

"So, did you find anything good in the mall?" he asked.

"Just a couple of books," she showed the copy she held so tightly. "I can lend those to you once I finish them."

"Ah... Sure, thanks."

"By the way, I'm pretty sure Shulk's already finished with his battles," Robin said, hastily getting up from her bed. "You want to come with me and find him?"

"As much as I would love to see him complain about Bowser's side smash attack and how broken it is," Rob shook his head and went to lay down on his own bed. "I'm kind of tired. Go on ahead, I'll stay here and rest for a while."

"Oh, okay then," she said, leaving her books on the bed desk. "Sleep well, Rob."

What happened next was... Something. As soon as he closed his eyes, he felt very soft lips being planted on his forehead. It was quick and light, and really, if he was even slightly asleep he wouldn't have felt them at all, but the feeling was there. And it messed up his heart badly.

Rob opened his eyes in confusion, but as soon as he did that, he could only catch a glimpse of Robin closing the door and leaving the room.

Well then...

Now he couldn't rest. Thanks for that, Robin.

He should probably pick his dirty clothes up, now that he was already here.

* * *

**I have the feeling I'm emphasizing a lot more on what Rob's going through and that isn't what I want to. So I will try to write more about her point of view too. By the way, yeah, Robin has a high incident to accidentally seeing naked guys (I'm looking at you, Chrom). **

**I also like to think Kirby likes to sleep on just about anything. He's like a cute pink kitty.**


	4. Just another wannabe

It wasn't always that Shulk was invaded by a sudden wish for him to just drop dead where he was. Many could call him a quiet pessimist, yes, but he never wanted to stop living as much as he wanted now. Sure, the battle he had against Bowser, Ganondorf and Charizard was already enough to make his spirits go down, even with him abusing his Shield Arts, so he could stand a chance of not being sent flying away after being hit by Bowser's side smash attack and Charizard's Flare Blitz. But what really made his day turn from bad to worse was having to fight Sonic with only explosive items turned on. And he still had another fight (his last) in three hours. It was a miracle how his eardrums were still intact.

He needed to rest so much that he couldn't care less about going to grab lunch, be it on the cafeteria or going out to some fast food restaurant Sonic had invited him to go with him. He wanted to shut off from the world for a while. And it seemed he was going to get what he wished for. All he had to do was take the elevator and...

BLING!

"Shulk! There you are!"

The double chromatic elevator doors slowly opened, revealing a rather agitated Robin inside. Shulk muffled a tired sigh, as he wasn't even in the mood to talk to her, and let himself be dragged by the arm to inside the elevator. He saw her mash the button for the doors to close and decided to rest with his back to the wall, his tired blue eyes trying to figure it out what was bothering her. The Homs didn't want to be rude or anything, so the faster he helped her in whatever problem she was having, the faster he could send her away.

It wasn't as if he found Robin annoying. Quite the contrary. Robin was one of his first friends he made when he started living in the hotel and quickly became one of his closest ones. Their quieter and more collected nature was what helped in them identifying with each other, but it was their curiosity and passion for knowledge of each other's world that really brought them together. It was exactly for that reason why he was willing to put up with whatever problems she was having.

"Ah, first, were you going somewhere?" she asked, once they started going up. "Am I interrupting something, or...?"

"I was going back to my room, but it's fine," he lied between teeth. "What's the matter?"

"We can discuss this in your room then," she took a deep breath as they arrived on the third floor. "If that's okay with you."

Yes, he was more than okay with it. That was a wonderful idea.

"Sure, if you insist."

Shulk already had more or less an idea of what she wanted to talk about with him, if he took into account the common subject they always discussed when Robin had that guilty look on her face. He would let her start, just out of politeness. Thanks to Shulk's room being not that far away from the elevators, they arrived there in a couple of seconds. They checked the corridor just in case somebody was passing by and interpreted Robin walking in Shulk's room the wrong way and after seeing that everything was clear, the two swordsmen entered the room.

No matter how much she has been there, Robin would always be impressed by all the gadgets that was spread on the floor and desk. Shulk has always been a big enthusiast when it came to technology and could spend hours upon hours just studying and finding ways to create new weapons and gadgets. Unfortunately, that enthusiasm was spent too much on studying and none on actually organizing his room (another thing he and Robin had so much in common). At least he started piling all of his stuff on one corner and on the desk, so the cleaning lady wouldn't have to suffer anymore when she would be doing her job.

"So, what did you want to say?" the Homs asked as he flopped on his bed, a heavy wave of tiredness hitting him. "I'm all ears."

"Shulk, I just don't know what else to do!" Robin sat on the only chair in the room, her chin resting over her crossed arms.

"Is it about Rob again? Where is he anyway?"

"He's sleeping back in our room. Oh gods, Shulk, you have no idea how close I was to kissing him this time," the tactician buried her face in her arms.

That last sentence sure did peak his interest. "You were?!" he asked as he sat up. "What exactly happened?"

"We were in our room and I asked if he wanted to come with me and try to find you, because I knew your fights were probably over. And then he said that he was feeling tired and was going to sleep," she explained, the pausing between her sentences getting bigger as she proceeded. "And I don't know what happened, okay? He closed his eye and I just kissed his forehead, but that's just because I was almost kissing his lips."

"Oh... Well, that's awkward," the seer rubbed the back of his neck. "Why didn't you stop then?"

"Because I'm an idiot."

"Stop being so harsh on yourself. How did he react?"

"I don't know," she gave a short sigh. "I made sure to get out of there before he could say anything. I didn't even look at his face."

"Robin, you're making everything worse for yourself," Shulk groaned, flopping on his bed again. "What are you going to say if he asks why did you do that?"

"I'll find a way to deny."

Shulk would never have thought that he would have wanted to suffocate himself with his pillow because of Robin and he had to control himself to not do it. It had been a while since Robin had been borrowing his ears to talk on and on about her crush on Rob. Or rather, complain about said crush. Every time she would say how wrong it felt, and every time he would have to reassure her that it was okay, it happened, nobody had control over who they liked.

Honestly, it was tiring him even more. It made it even more frustrating that he couldn't do anything about it and help her. And she couldn't even try to forget him, because they both lived under the same roof.

"Of all the guys around here," she mumbled. "It had to be him?"

It made sense Robin would fall for him, in a way. The two were close and got along smoothly, both being enthusiasts about strategy, books and, according to what Robin said one day, spending a good chunk of time discussing about the relationships between their comrades in their army. If Shulk didn't know any better, he could easily take them for a couple. Or, at least, they had very good potential to be one.

Too bad it was their extreme similarities in appearance and personality that made Robin so anxious and hesitant. All Shulk could do was listen... And try to not fall asleep in his bed.

"Robin, someday you will have to deal with these feelings, you know?" the blond seer yawned. "Before you end up imploding and doing something you'll regret."

"He would probably be disgusted..." she mumbled.

Shulk didn't answer anymore, too tired to think of something new to tell her. They both knew one day Robin would have to stop running away from her feelings and deal with Rob. Too bad things were easier said than done.

"And I still need to fight him next week..."

"Hmm..."

"Because of that stupid default rule..."

"..."

"Shulk?"

She let out a sad smile as she saw the Homs already practically asleep. He was probably beyond exhausted, and here she was, forcing him to listen to her same old problems. Better let him rest and take her time alone to just go walk around and clear her mind. Quietly and swiftly, she exited the room and made her way to the ground floor.

Maybe now it was a good time to drop by the gym and beat Sandbag up.

* * *

Lucina finished her lunch in record time and rested her back on the chair, taking a few couple of minutes to organize her thoughts and plan what else she wanted to do before her match with Luigi began. She looked around her, Smashers and Miis enjoying each other's company while they ate up every avaiable minute of lunch being served at the spacious cafeteria and their conversations filled the air.

Compared to everyone else, Lucina seemed so alone, being one of the very few people who ate by herself. Usually she would have lunch with Rob or Peach, but one was resting in his room and the other was Naga knows where, probably spending time with Zelda. She had no idea what to do to pass time, not alone.

She could always go back to training... No, she wouldn't do that. Even someone like her could get tired of training after a while. When she was still heated up was one thing, but now that she had completely calmed down, the last thing Lucina wanted was to get back to practicing. She had a fight coming up in one hour, she would better rest.

With nothing else to do, she decided to waste her time on the recreational space. It wasn't exactly one of her favorite places in the hotel, what with how crowded it usually was and how difficult it was to watch tv or do just about anything without having to deal with another person trying to run over her and decide what they would watch. The blue haired swordswoman never would have thought that an activity so simple as gazing at a screen could be so stressful to her. But it was her last resort and it was better than just going back to her room watch the ceiling, so that was what she was going to do.

She made her way to the recreational room, having to cross the patio because it was the shortest route to get there, since all she had to do was walk a straight line. However, before she could even get to half her trajectory, she heard an alarmed scream coming not far away from her. "Lady, watch out!" it was the voice of a young boy, unfamiliar to Lucina.

Lucina quickly turned around, bracing herself for the worst, as she didn't have Falchion with her, all she could do was get in a defensive position. However, when nothing happened, she hesitantly opened one eye to see what was happening and saw a floating baseball ball floating in the air a little above her head.

"What the...?"

"Ah, I'm so sorry!" a young blond boy apologized, his hand motioning for the ball to float towards him. "We almost hit you! Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, don't worry," Lucina said, wide-eyed at the boy's amazing ability to make the object float. "Um..."

"Uh, well, I'll tell my friend to be more careful," he said, sheepishly, his gaze switching between the ball and Lucina. "Have... Have a nice day, miss."

"Lucas!"

The two turned to where the new voice came from and saw a boy as young as the one who was talking to Lucina, walking right towards them, red cap covering his messy black hair and a bat in hand. She dug a little into her memory, to when they had some sort of Smasher meet-up so she could know the names of her fellow fighters, and remembered that the red-capped boy was named Ness. Was the blond boy (Lucas, was that what Ness called him?) also a Smasher? She could remember seeing him walking around the hotel, but never really saw him doing any fighting.

"Oh, hey, Lucina!" Ness greeted with a toothy grin. "Nice meeting ya here!"

"Likewise."

"Ness, be more careful next time with the ball!" his friend scolded. "You almost hit her."

"Aw, geez, sorry about that."

"No need to apologize," Lucina smiled at them. "Pardon me for the sudden question, but are you two siblings?"

"What? Oh, no, no we aren't," Lucas said, waving his hands. "We're not related or anything. We're just friends."

"Lucas and I are from the same world, but from different timelines," Ness said, wrapping an arm around his shoulder. "And he's my best friend here."

"I see..." the swordswoman mused. "I don't think I remember ever seeing you in the battlefield, Lucas. Are you participating in this tournament as well?"

"Ah, no, not this time."

"This time?"

"Yeah, Lucas here was in the last tournament," the red capped boy said enthusiastically, before his voice made a sudden 180 degree turn. "But he didn't want to participate in this one."

"Ness, don't start this again..."

"But you were such an awesome fighter! We kept spamming PK Thunders and PK Fires until people started hating us fighting together!"

"I'm fine like this, Ness," the blonde said, shaking his arm off from him. "Besides, you know people don't like me that much that they want me back."

"Pfff, they are idiots," Ness pouted. "Just because we are both psychic and had similar powers..."

"Similar powers?" Lucina tilted her head to the side. So their casual clothing wasn't the only thing that matched.

"Yeah, Ness and I had a fighting style that was very similar," Lucas said. "We rely heavily on PSI based attacks."

"I don't see how that can be a bad thing."

"It can be a bad thing when people start accusing you of not trying hard enough to be original."

"...Original?"

"They just kept saying I was a blonde Ness," Lucas sighed. "I didn't like having to fight against all those people and I still have nightmares about going against Ganondorf," a shiver ran down his spine at the mere mention of the King of Evil. "So when people started saying all those stuff about me being a tasteless clone, I didn't want to keep going."

"So you had a few couple of moves that were the same, big deal. You used more PSI powers than I and was actually better than me at it!" Ness went on, completely ignoring the discomfort that continued to grow on Lucina's face. "People are idiots. They kept accusing you of being a ripoff, but you were a lot more different from me than, say, Roy from Marth. Now THAT guy wasn't even trying."

"Uh, Ness..."

"His only difference was that his strength was on the base of the sword, but he was identical to Marth," he ignored Lucas' glare for him to stop talking. "Oh, and he had fire. That was the only thing that really made him different."

Lucas quickly pinched him on his sides, making his friend immediately shut up. The black-haired boy's face instantly paled once he took two seconds to stop and think about what he was ranting about... Right in front of Lucina.

And by the distraught look on her eyes, he could see he had screwed up big time.

"I-I didn't mean it like that!"

"Ness, please, there's no need to try to explain yourself," Lucina raised her hand. "I am aware of how similar my fighting style is to the Hero King. But, hey, it's as you said. People may not notice the differences, but if Master Hand thought I was good enough to have my own slot, then that must mean I have already my own identity."

"Yeah."

"Well, if you two excuse me, I must be on my way," she let out a forced smile. "Be careful with your game, alright?"

The Ylissean turned around and walked away, leaving the two awkward boys behind. Ness at that point didn't know where to bury his face to hide his embarrassment, and Lucas' reprimanding glare only made him feel worse.

"Did it have to be Roy?"

"I'm sorry."

"You could have picked just about ANYONE else, but you had to pick Roy."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't say sorry to me," he said, gesturing to the swordswoman who was already far away. "Say sorry to her. She's the one you just called a carbon copy of Marth."

Ness nodded, not in the mood to continue their game of baseball. Granted, it was starting to get stale and kind of boring with just the two of them, but this encounter with Lucina killed the mood entirely.

Did it really have to be Roy? Dark Pit was around and he was a literal clone, he could have used that guy as an argument. Yeah, he would make a mental note on that one.

As for Lucina, after that little chat, all she wanted to do was go back to her room and think better about her presentation as a fighter. She remember being so happy with Master Hand's decision to make her a separate fighter from Marth, but now that she thought about, he did take a long time to consider that. She had to argue and argue with him, trying her best to prove her point to him that she was not just a female version of the Melee veteran. She had her own history, personality and abilities.

But that was the original Lucina. Here in the world of Smash, maybe she was just created to be a long-haired version of Marth...

And she thought she was okay with that. Up until she met Lucas and Ness, she had no issues with her being too similar to him. Lucina was actualy pretty excited to be this close to someone she idolized so much. But with what Lucas just said about how people treated him, she was starting to have her doubts.

As she made her way back to her room, she bumped into Rob in one of the corridors. "Ah, Lucina", he called out to her. "Have you seen Robin around?"

"No, I haven't. Why do you ask?"

"There are some things we need to discuss."

"I see... But, no, I haven't seen her around today," Lucina said, walking past by him. "I wish you luck on your search."

Rob watched the young swordswoman leave with curious eyes. Lucina seemed rather agitated, but wherever that was something he should be concerned about or not, he couldn't know. It didn't help that he was a lot more worried about talking to Robin than anything else. He hoped it was nothing too serious.

* * *

**Ness' words do not reflect my actual thoughts on clones, even though Roy totally was one. A lot of my favorite characters in Smash are actually clones. I used Roy a lot in Melee and I prefer Lucas over Ness in Brawl, but hey, I'm writing all of these based on the fandom's opinions. **

**Oh, and no, Lucina's not going to have any romantic subplot. Just getting that out of the way before it even got in the way. I'm giving her a rest after her little adventure in the "The Way She Acts". Sorry not sorry about the shameless self-promotion.**

**Instead, she's going through a different emotional turmoil. And Shulk just slept through and lost his fight. Sucks to be him.**


	5. Your dreaming heart

**Oh, well, classes have officially started, but there's still time until I start to drown myself into my studies until I'm crying in the corner about how I'm going to fail. Anyway, thanks again for all the wonderful reviews. I can't say enough how amazing you guys are!**

* * *

"What to buy..."

"Why not both?"

"Both?" the white haired mage gave a smug grin. "We could, but then you can't complain anymore about getting fat."

"Me? You're the one that keeps devouring these things like a troglodyte!"

"Stop sounding like Maribelle."

"Just put these cookies on the basket and let's get moving."

Rob refused to wear off that smug grin of his and put the two packages of chocolate chips on the basket he was carrying. What Robin had said was true, but he would be damned if he didn't find an opportunity to mess with her. There was something in the way she got flustered that brought a certain joy to his heart.

It was a cloudy Sunday afternoon and the two Robins needed to restock their fridge with water bottles, frizzy drinks and a healthy dose of the junk food at the local grocery store, small treats that they liked to eat when it was late at night and they were too engrossed on a book or on the defective television that only showed the rural and religion channels to go to sleep (to their defense, it wasn't so much about the cattle auctions or about watching some priest preach about some unknown belief to them, as it was more of a problem with insomnia). They could buy and eat was already available and collecting dust in the depths of the fridge, but since they had the feeling they would have to sell their kidneys to the black market to just have enough money to buy a can of soda, the cheaper alternative was buying from the outside and bring their food to the room.

Robin kept going on ahead, giving a last check through the shelves in order to see if there wasn't anything else worth getting, while Rob kept walking on slower steps and checking their basket to see if they didn't forget getting anything they liked. His hand stopped over a sack of gumi bears and his mouth contorted in disgust. He never understood how Robin could like those dreadful candies that felt like he was chewing rubber with colorants, but he just put up with it.

He found it kind of interesting how they had different tastes when it came to food or other small trivial things. Despite buying different food, they still had to pay with the same cash, though.

"Okay, I guess that's it," Robin said, walking towards her male counterpart. "Is there anything else you want?"

"I think we already have enough," he said, showing off all the goods they got. "I'm not sure how we're going to stuff all of these in the fridge."

"Half of these are chips. We'll just stack them on the desk or inside the wardrobe," she shrugged her shoulders. "Peach is probably already waiting in line, let's go."

The two went to wait in line to check out their shopping, but couldn't find Peach there, so they agreed one of them would go talk to her once they finished paying. That, or they could just wait for her in line, because the Mii at the one of the two available cashiers was having some troubles with the machine and it would take some time for them to get there. Not that they would complain that much, considering shopping here was way better than paying for overpriced food at the supermarket. It was a good thing Peach took them to that small, barely noticeable store, or they would be getting only half the stuff they wanted.

It was still better than buying from the hotel.

"So, Robin, have you thought about what I said before?" Rob asked.

"About...?"

"About my suggestion of us trying to convince Master Hand on giving us different spots."

"I don't know, Rob. If only we have tried this strategy of us tweaking our abilities earlier, we might have had a bigger chance. But now, with our fighting being tomorrow..."

"It's like they say, better late than never, right?" he insisted. "Besides, what do we have to lose?"

"Us, nothing. But I get the impression Master Hand might lose his patience with us," Robin rubbed her arm and looked away. "I don't know why you're so bothered by this."

"Why I'm so bothered? And you aren't?"

"I was at first, I guess. But the more I thought about it, there really is no reason to be THIS upset," she paused for a while. "Well, okay, maybe I'm not entirely over it, but, hey, we compete all the time, right? This shouldn't feel any different."

Except they only competed in games or anything else that didn't involve stabbing or electrocuting each other.

"Even with the loser becoming the other's shadow?" he asked instead.

"It's not that bad."

Maybe not for her, but for Rob it was as bad as he was making it out to be. He didn't want to hurt her. He didn't want to think of Robin as his shadow, nor that he was hers. "Besides," he heard Robin say quietly. "If we get to be separate fighters, we might get separate rooms."

"Wait, what was that last part?"

"What?"

"You said something about our room?"

"Ah, you know exactly what I said," she confessed, the embarrassment apparent on her face. "I'm not going to repeat myself."

Rob gave a smug, toothy grin at the girl by his side. It wasn't as if he didn't know Robin liked his company, but it was always great to listen her admitting it. Robin was never the best person to show affection towards others, so he needed to enjoy those moments when she did. Even if it was a simple 'I really enjoy your company'.

Which reminded him of that kiss to his forehead and suddenly he got confused again. Could anyone blame him, though? Robin was never the touchy feely kind of person and that kiss definitely was way out-of-character for her. He wanted to ask her why she did that, but was silenced before he could say anything by a light tap on his shoulder.

"Ahem," someone coughed from behind.

The two mages jumped in surprise and turned their heads, only to find Peach patiently pointing to the only available cashier. Unlike the Robins, her basket had only a couple of shampoo bottles and hair-conditioner. "You're next, if you don't mind," she said.

"Oh, right," Robin said and gently tugged Rob's coat sleeve.

Once everyone was done paying for their food, the three Smashers left the small store and started heading their way back. The grocery store was located a few blocks away from the hotel, almost unnoticeable in the middle of the big buildings that surrounded it. How Peach, of all Smashers, found that little spot was still a mystery to the Robins. But, then again, despite being of a royal lineage, Peach was known for being very controlling of her money and how she spent it, so maybe it was her smell over the cheap prices that guided her there. That's what Rob liked to imagine how it happened.

"I couldn't help but notice you two talking about trying to convince Master Hand on giving you separate spots in the roster?" the princess commented. "Is that right?"

"Rob suggested we tweaked out our special abilities to show him we're different enough," Robin said, taking one of the bags from her counterpart's hand in order to help him. "Maybe change Elwind to Arcwind, or cast Arcfire in a horizontal line..."

"I have no idea what you are talking about."

"We are thinking that maybe if we use our magic differently..."

"Rob, if I know Master Hand well, all you're going to do is annoy him," Peach warned. "I say this from personal experience. It is very, VERY hard to change his mind when it comes to suggestions of how he should be running the tournaments."

"Personal experience?" he asked. "What happened to you?"

"Nothing that bad. It's just that I kept pestering him about including a very good friend of mine into the roster, ever since the Melee days," she gave a bitter smile. "I continued doing that until Brawl was around, but even when that was over, all he did was call me to his office and lecture me about how tired he was about my insisting and that I knew nothing, that her being included would never happen because he saw no potential or importance in her. After that, I just kind of... Let it go, I suppose. I was tired of insisting after all these years," Peach let out a sigh. "It's a shame, because I'm sure her presence would make a lot of people happy here."

"O-Oh, it's really a shame," was all Robin could say.

"But there's still a chance, right? I mean, Lucina..."

"You better believe that it wasn't her who convinced him on giving her her own spot. Don't get me wrong, I like Master Hand and I appreciate everything he has done for us, but he doesn't listen to anyone but himself. If anything, you two should be happy that you are both included," she frowned as she looked up at the sky, a single droplet of water falling on the bridge of her nose. "Umm... There's going to be a storm soon."

About time, Rob thought. These past days have been so ugly and cloudy, he just wished it rained sooner, so the skies could clear again.

They walked faster, just in case his wish was attended.

* * *

_It started out as a fairly standard nightmare, not so different from the ones he usually had. He was standing in the middle of a street fair in the capitol of Ylisstol. The frightening and imposing figure of the Fell Dragon Grima hovering above the city and its panicking citizens. Risen were everywhere spreading chaos and killing anything that moved, building burned and collapsed, while people dropped off on the ground, their deaths as meaningful as of insects, with some corpse missing some limbs. _

_Typical __apocalyptic__ scenario that plagued his dreams. Nothing old, nothing new. But then the next sequence of events got... Weird. And (gods forbid) kind of exciting. But definitely weird._

_One second he was on the streets of Ylisstol, being careful to not touch anything or anyone so they wouldn't get destroyed by him, the other he found himself seated on a small wooden boat, gently floating in the calm waters of some lake at the outskirts of the city. Rob was pretty sure there were no lakes outside of Ylisstol, but he could still see the burning building in the horizon, so maybe there were lakes and he just didn't pay enough attention. Rob saw Grima flying towards him, the dragon's mighty body getting smaller and smaller the more he approached, until he was at the same height as Rob and sat at the other side of the boat._

_For some odd reason, Rob was not afraid. One could say he had finally gotten over his fear of the Fell Dragon, but actually, the only reason he wasn't afraid was because he was too occupied asking why Lucina was rowing an even smaller boat by their side. She gave a warm and encouraging smile at him and tried to get her boat closer to his, making the tactician wonder how she wasn't hitting him with her rowing._

_He wanted to ask her what she was doing there, but she beat him to it and asked: "So, what are you waiting for?"_

_"Waiting for what?"_

_"Are you or are you not going to kiss her?"_

_"What are you talking about?! Kiss Grima?" he shrieked. "Are you out of your mind?!"_

_"But, Robin, we even brought the pegasi to make this moment better," she pointed at the sky._

_Rob's eyes followed her gesture and, true enough, there were two pegasi flying in circles in the clear blue sky above them. Riding those pegas__i__ were Cordelia and Sumia, throwing petal flowers at them. And also Peach was there, riding Yoshi in his dragon form and throwing petals. Lucina could have warned him about that, because the dinosaur was spiting fire everywhere and burning the petals, so really, all that show did was cover his hair with ashes._

_"What's going on?" he asked, only to be answered by the distant sounds of a violin, a bongo and some __unintelligible__ lyrics. _

_He turned his head to where the sound came from and found Brady and Donkey Kong playing their respective __instruments__, while Olivia did the "favor" of singing for them._

_"We did all of this for you," Lucina __happily__ said. "Now kiss."_

_"Lucina, I'm not kissing Grima."_

_"Who said anything about Grima?"_

_"What?"_

_It was only then when he decided to turn his attention to the being in front of him. Instead of Grima, the person seated in front of him was now Robin. The sight of her there truly did some miracles on his agitated mood and the tactician soon found himself relaxing a bit on his seat. By the way she smiled at him, he would guess she was pleased as well._

_"So, what are you waiting for?" she asked._

_"Waiting for what?"_

_"Come on, Robin," she giggled. "You know what. We both have been wanting this."_

_He had absolutely no idea what she was talking about, but his questions died on his throat once he realized that Robin was suddenly naked, save for the heavy purple coat the two of them usually wore. She had her white hair down and her hands were positioned in such a way that it covered her just enough for his dream to not get an M rating._

_Well... That was quite the sight indeed. Any __reminiscent__ of logical thought had launched itself off the window._

_"Robin..." she leaned forward._

_"R-Robin, think about the others," he hesitated. "They are watching."_

_"What others?"_

_Lucina and everyone else suddenly were no more, with the exception of maybe Yoshi, who was too occupied floating in the water to pay any attention to his surroundings. There was nothing wrong._

_Oh, gods, seeing Robin like that really was breathtaking. He could feel his entire body heat up the closer she got._

_Screw it. Why fight back?_

But before he could do anything, before he could even take her in his arms, the tactician woke up. He didn't get up in a jump, or gasped in surprise. He simply woke up like he would in any normal day, his mind a little dizzier, but still feeling like crap like always.

"What the actual..." he muttered.

He needed water.

"Ugh..."

Rob groggily got up from his bed, the memories of his interrupted dream still fresh on his memory. The aggressive and loud noises of the thunder ripping the sky were of no bother to him as he slowly dragged his feet to their fridge. The soothing sound of the raindrops from the rainstorm did nothing to make him feel better and he grabbed the only bottle of mineral water in the middle of all the frizzy drinks.

He gave a big gulp and casually glances over where Robin slept, a light smile appearing on his face as she seemed to be sleeping peacefully. That, and the fact that there were some tufts of hair inside her mouth, which was always a funny sight to him. After drinking half the bottle, he put the water back on the fridge and absentmindedly went to sit on his bed. Rob looked once again at his roommate and, after a good couple of minutes of staring at the ceiling, decided to go back to sleep.

Rob gave a long and disappointed sigh as he admitted quietly that he wanted to go back to his dream and continue from where it stopped.

* * *

"A vision?"

Shulk was used to having visions of a nearby future at the most unusual times, it was almost his specialty (apart from being a seer to begin with), but they usually didn't happen this early in the morning. Most of the visions usually were about him and were actually really helpful during battles and when he wanted to avoid some uncomfortable encounter with some Smashers he didn't feel like talking to.

However, there some rare moments where his visions had nothing to do with him and instead showed what would happen to the ones that were closer to him. The vision he just had happened to be one of those rare ones, where he saw both Robins fighting each other at the Arena Ferox stage. He was rather surprised by how intense it looked like and assumed it to be one of those fights Robin mentioned she would have to participate in order to dispute for the default spot. From the looks of things, it looked like Rob was with the advantage in hand, as he kept pushing Robin over the edge with Arcfire. But nothing was definitive, and Robin could very well turn the fight around into her favor.

Maybe he should warn her about that.

Maybe he shouldn't give her any preference and not screw with Rob's strategy game.

The young seer grabbed his Monado sword that he carefully places at the left corner of his room and left the place. On his way to the elevators, he found Lucina also waiting for one of them to arrive, her hand firmly gripping the sheath that carried her Falchion.

"Oh, Lucina, hello," Shulk warmly greeted her.

"Good morning, Shulk," Lucina nodded her head at him and went back to staring at the door.

"You going to get some breakfast or you already ate?"

"I don't have time for breakfast. I need to get to the training rooms as soon as I can," she replied.

"Is something the matter?"

"There are some things I need to take care of. The sooner I start, the better," Lucina bit her lip and then turned to him. "What about you, Shulk? Were you going to have breakfast?"

"Yeah, even though I'm not that hungry," he said with a shrug of shoulders.

"Would you like to come with me to the gym, then? I was thinking about practicing alone, but having a partner would be a lot better."

Shulk had to admit that he admired Lucina's discipline a lot. She was always practicing and fighting, always cool and level-headed as she tried her best to become a better fighter. He wished he had her dedication. Maybe training with her would help him getting more motivation to fight, so he silently accepted her invitation.

One thing they had in common though. They really should watch over their health and eating habits better.

* * *

**The dream sequence was something I really didn't plan out initially, but I love writing about trippy sequences, so there you go. Initially I was planning on making Rob wake up in the middle of the night, open the fridge and realize out of the blue: "holy shit, I think I have a crush on her", only to then close the fridge, lay down on his bed and regret his life choices. But dreams are always a great plot point too. Oh, and Peach was ****referring**** to Daisy, in case someone didn't get it which friend she was talking about.**

**Next chapter I promise we'll get to the Robins' actual competition for the spot.**

**And I'm not sure if I'm going to do this every chapter or not, but I'm curious, so here's a question for you all:**

**-We all had that one dream that was just so weird, that we still have it memorized after a long time. What was the weirdest, most fucked up dream you ever had?**


	6. Time to smash and run

**Before I start this chapter, I want to thank Makokam for beta reading this chapter and helping me out with my grammar and sentences. Thank you so much for your help, you're awesome!**

**I'm also glad that I got to write a slightly longer chapter this time. I don't know why, but I really needed it.**

* * *

It was by sheer luck that Ness activated his PSI Magnet shield in time to absorb Lucario's fully charged Aura Sphere. Had he been one second late, the attack would have hit him hard and the psychic would be seeing stars for sure, especially since the Pokemon was already pretty beaten-up at that point and his aura attacks grew stronger in proportion to his injuries. The upside of being attacked by such a strong aura energy was that, the stronger the attack, the better his shield worked on healing him with it.

That alone brought some sort of satisfaction to him in an otherwise frustrating battle. It wasn't so much about Lucario being a difficult opponent, as it was more him having to fight in the Pac Land stage, one of the most annoying stages he ever had the displeasure of being thrown in. And that was saying something, considering he had to worry about having a brawl scheduled to happen on stages like Big Blue and 75m on the last tournaments. Being in Pac Land was the same experience of walking on a very slow trend mill. Sure he had all the time in the world to keep up his pace and walk along with the moving floor, but if he got distracted too much, he would hurt himself. In this case, he would be thrown off the moving stage and his ego would hurt more than anything.

Feeling more energized, Ness jumped over Lucario's head and gave a swift kick to his back, making the fighting/steel type Pokemon fly from the brute force of his opponent's kick combined with his PSI power. The black-haired boy gave a sigh of relief as he took Lucario's last life, thus making him the winner of that battle.

The stage suddenly started to dissolve, leaving both Ness and Lucario in an empty space, with nothing but the white ground beneath them and the cloudy blue sky above them. Lucario stepped aside to give Ness the spotlight, giving a good congratulatory clapping to his opponent as the announcer shouted the winner's name. All formalities aside, the two Smashers then left the stage through the exit at the very far left of the place, walking down a large ramp until they were at the door of the stadium.

"Man, I can't believe I'm still shaking," Ness laughed nervously, showing off his trembling hand to Lucario. "I thought I was dead with that Aura Sphere."

"_Your defense had an impeccable __timing__, I must say,_" the Pokemon simply commented. "_You did an_ _excellent __job__ today."_

"Heh, thanks," he gave a toothy grin. "So, you going back to the hotel or are you going to stick around?"

"_There is nothing around this region that makes me want to stay, let's head back_."

The two left the big stadium and walked towards the nearest taxi point. The stadium was about ten minutes away from the hotel, and they could very well get the bus, but none of the two felt like getting inside a transport flooding with people returning from their jobs, having to squish themselves to fit in and being overwhelmed with the smell of sweaty armpits that couldn't resist an entire day of working hard.

"By the way, Lucario," Ness said as he and the Pokemon searched for a cab. "Have you seen Lucina around these days?"

"_Who is Lucina again?_"

"That girl that looks a lot like Marth."

"_I see... My apologies, but I have not seen her today."_

"It's okay... Thanks, anyway."

Ever since his encounter with Lucina three days ago, Ness couldn't take the look of disappointment and discomfort on the older woman's face from his mind. He just wanted to defend Lucas from stupid accusations, but ended up making everything worse by accidentally trash-talking Lucina's way of fighting. And while he was not very close to her, Ness could tell that Lucina was a proud warrior, so insulting her fighting style must have been really harsh for her.

He needed to apologize, but it was kind of difficult to do so when he couldn't find her anywhere. Ness hoped she wasn't as upset as he imagined her to be.

Lucina was not as upset as he thought she was. But she wanted to do something about her "clone" status regardless.

"You are going to change your entire move set?!" Shulk asked in disbelief after Lucina finished explaining their training regimen for the morning.

"Yes, I will," she said with a confident smile. "We still have about two weeks until the tournament starts, and my fighting style is still rather mysterious to most people, since they only got glimpses of what I can do. I say I can still change in time for my debut."

"But we've been practicing the past months to be in perfect shape," the seer said, still baffled. "How do you expect to change and master your new style so easily?"

"Are you implying that I can't master a new fighting style?"

"I'm not implying anything, I'm saying this directly to you," Shulk bit his tongue, realizing the harsh tone in his voice. "I mean, you can try, but you're not going to master it _in time_."

"Shulk, if you are not going to help me, you can always go train by yourself," Lucina groaned.

"Lucina, look..." Shulk pause awkwardly, raising his hands as if trying to make a point. "I will help you if you are so determined, but I still can't understand why you want to change so badly when you are already great."

"I'm just... Not satisfied with what I've become as a Smasher," she crossed her arms sheepishly. "I want to change as much as I can."

Shulk knew he wouldn't be able to talk her out of that idea. For someone who wanted to change as a fighter so badly, it was ironic how she refused to change her mind. But he wanted to start training soon, so then he could call it a day and go back to his room. Maybe a good hour session of training would convince Lucina otherwise and she would drop that idea.

He took the Monado he had on his back and got into his fighting stance, signalizing that he was ready whenever she was. Agreeing or not with her decision, Shulk still needed training.

* * *

One hour after lunch time, the Robins finally went to Master Hand's office, but not before spending a few minutes delaying their meeting out of sheer nervousness.

"Good morning, Robin," Master Hand greeted the two mages in front of him. "Hope you had an excellent weekend."

"Could have been worse," Rob replied, rather salty.

"Good," he replied nonchalantly, almost as if he didn't actually hear to the bitterness in his voice. "Alright, then. Today you will have your first battle. Please follow me, I shall be escorting you to the Smash Run grounds."

"Smash Run?" they asked in unison.

Smash Run was a new game mode that Master Hand had introduced to the public. Four Smashers would be selected to compete against each other in a very wide open maze that required quite a bit of exploring and visiting it repeatedly to fully understand its design. Despite competing against each other, the fighters were never to bump into each other, instead, they would be facing against hordes of monsters and enemies that hailed from the Smashers' worlds of origin. The more enemies they defeat, the more power boosts they got. The more power boosts they got, the stronger they became for the final showdown they would have after the five minutes of running around the maze were over. That would be the only time the fighters would actually interact with each other.

Despite the interesting premise, it wasn't a mode that was used frequently by the Smashers, as they were too occupied with their own battles than worrying about a game that wasn't even going to be in the official tournament. It was, however, very popular among Miis, who were not official fighters and just participated in battles for the fun of it.

The Robins' surprise sure made them forget for a moment that they were angry at Master Hand. They followed the floating hand to the giant maze that was located in a big open stadium behind the hotel. The stadium was almost as big as the hotel, having to accommodate inside the maze. The entrance and the registration halls would usually be filled with two lines of Miis waiting for their turn to take a shot at the game, one for Miis who were staying at the hotel and could participate for free and the other for other Miis who had to pay for an entry fee.

The halls were usually crowded and noisy with conversation, but usually very peaceful. With Master Hand reserving the place for that hour solely for the Robins to use it, suddenly the place felt awkwardly quiet. Rob remember playing Smash Run one time and, while interesting, was not exactly his idea of fun and avoided it ever since. Maybe it had to do with the fact that the final showdown was a race to the finish challenge, and he was one of the slowest people in Smash.

Having to race against Captain Falcon was a nightmare. He still had no idea how he won with an advantage of 0.1 second over the racer.

"For your first day, you two shall compete against each other in a game of Smash Run," Master Hand explained. "It will be just the two of you, no special powers or items and instead of fighting for five minutes, you will be in the maze for seven minutes."

"That sounds way too much for a round of Smash Run," Robin crossed her arms.

"That is because there will be no final showdown. The point in this duel is to see how you fair against the enemies with no advantages. The one who gets more power boosts and a higher score wins," their boss said.

"I see..." Rob said with a hand on his chin.

"You may begin now or wait a few couple of minutes to clear your minds, if you want," Master Hand said as he floated away. "Good luck in there. I shall be observing from afar."

Rob felt a temporary relief with what Master Hand had planned for them. He wouldn't have to face Robin in the battlefield, even if only for today, giving him a little more time to think over his situation.

There was no way of denying that what he felt towards his female counterpart was way more than simple friendship. That, in itself, was all kinds of shades of fucked up, but then again, Rob was a pretty fucked up person to begin with. There were worse things that could have happened to him then falling for Robin. Deciding if he should confess his feelings to her or if he should try to forget them was more difficult. It wasn't as if he expected her to return them, but confessing would still lift that heavy weight he felt on his shoulders. Then again, he might lose her friendship and that wasn't a very thrilling thought to him.

He was so tempted though.

"Concentrate on today's battle, dammit..."

"So, Rob," Robin called out, completely oblivious to the other's muttering. "You want to start now, or you want to wait?"

"Let's start now and get this over with."

Robin nodded and went on ahead towards the door that would take them to the maze. From there, she would teleport to a random point and then begin. With a heavy consciousness, she turned around and gave him a small wave with a bittersweet smile planted on her thin lips. Wanting to do that or not, she would do her best and pass this Smash Run with flying colors.

Three minutes later, all she wanted to do was survive the hellhole she'd accidentally thrown herself into. Robin was a skilled tactician, always coming up with the best plans that favored the best outcome. But sometimes, she allowed herself to take risks and play not so safe, which could turn out to be the best thing she came up with, or the worst, which, in this case, was deciding to fight off a Clubberskull in a closed section of the maze.

It was a good idea, at first. The Clubberskull had spawned in an area where the whole ground would catch fire every once in five seconds, as if it was one giant oven, save for the floating platforms that served as a safe spot for the player. All Robin had to do was make the Clubberskull fall on the ground and keep spamming it with Arcfires, Thorons and Elwind spells, while the flaming floor would take care of the rest and then all she had to do was collected the sweet, sweet rewards it would drop once it was defeated. There were no other enemies around, she had gathered quite a lot of Attack, Special and Defense boosts to keep her safe and she had her tomes and Levin Sword fully charged, it was the perfect plan.

But then she decided to open up a treasure chest that was in one of the platforms while she took care of the Clubberskull. Except that treasure chest wasn't a treasure chest at all, but a Mimicutie in disguise. Robin could feel her spine shiver and her heart jump to her throat as she saw the treasure chest suddenly growing well-toned legs, ready to kick her out of the maze for daring to try to collect something out of her.

Oh, and the Clubberskull was still there.

Now, Robin was not a (very) proud woman. If necessary, she would retreat from a battle and (try to) swallow her pride, because it was better to have a hurt ego than a hurt anything else. Unfortunately, the Mimicutie had locked her in a series of spinning kicks, throwing her against the corner where the Clubberskull was currently flailing his brute arms around.

The Clubberskull gave her an uppecut punch that sent her bouncing between the ceiling and the still burning floor, a hilarious sight for anyone watching from outside, but an incredibly painful experience for her. Robin tried using her Levin Sword on the giant beating heart that was the monster, but the Mimicutie jumped in the air and gave a swift kick to her stomach, launching her far away from the two of them.

For some godly miracle, the tactician survived, taking the opportunity that it would take a while for the Mimicutie to catch up to where she landed to run away as fast as she could and killing some minor Goombas in the way and collecting the small boosts they dropped. She jumped off the edge from one of the platforms she was in and took the fall, not really caring about the height or the impact. Her head was spinning from the beating and all she wanted was to rest for possibly her whole life.

Her body fell lifelessly to the ground with a loud thud and she stayed there for a few seconds, breathing slowly and steadily, forgetting that she was in the middle of a Smash Run round and the last thing she could waste was time. Robin got up, albeit not without effort due to her current injuries, and looked to her left. There were three platforms, one above each other, that led to another section of the maze. She definitely was not eager to go back to where those unholy abominations still were, so she decided to take that path and see if she could find some nice Koopas to kill.

Robin jumped the platforms and used Elwind to give her an extra boost and help her reach the edge. She reached a tunnel that had another platform climbing session at the end of it that would lead her to an area filled with vegetation and a more "green" look. As if her prayers had been answered, she ended up encountering a group of Waddled Dees at the end of the tunnel. She took the opportunity to use her Nosferatu tome on them and heal her injuries by sucking out their lives with dark magic.

For some reason, she ended up thinking about Rob. How was he doing? Did he find the Cluberskull and try taking it down? Or did he decide to leave it alone and go after the smaller enemies? Was he doing better than her? If she was to be honest with herself, she hoped he wasn't. She really didn't want to lose to him. She didn't even want to be there, this whole competition business Master Hand was forcing them to go through was absolutely ridiculous to her.

Why was it so hard for him to simply leave the decision to them? Robin was sure she and Rob could figure the solution out together. Or better yet, he could get the records of their previous fights and compare the results in order to see who was performing better and was more fit for the spot of official, if that was such a big issue.

She sighed as she was forced to throw her Nosferatu tome away after using it too much on the Pookas. She felt a little better, enough for her to run straight without having her knees tremble too much. It was time to tip the scales and get back to the game.

Or that was the plan.

Robin suddenly started to hear an eerie music in the distance and found herself forced to retreat when she saw a deadly Orne blocking her way upwards.

Today really wasn't her day.

* * *

"So, how did it go?" Rob asked once the two were back to the entrance hall.

Robin gave him the most deadpanned look she could muster up. From the looks of things, Rob would guess it could have gone better for her. He, on the other hand, felt it could have been a lot worse. Sure, he didn't get to kill any major enemies that gave the best boosters, but most of the challenge doors he would enter were not challenge doors at all and gave him a lot of free goodies, including gold and food to replenish his health.

Their attention were brought back to the gloved hand that floated towards them from gods know where, their dark eyes showing eager anticipation for the final results that were to be shown on the screen in front of them.

"Now, for the final results," Master Hand said.

The screen lit up, showing the pictures of both Robins and how much of each booster they had collected.

"O-Oh..."

Rob could feel his heart sink as he looked at Robin's disappointed face. Out of all the boosters, Robin had only won in the Special and Defense departments, while Rob won all the others by a landslide. The Arms part was especially insulting, with Robin scoring 232 point, while Rob scored 760.

"Congratulations, male Robin," Master Hand said. "You are today's winner."

There was something in the way Master Hand referred to him that made Rob want to laugh. To hear their boss acknowledge him as an individual Robin was so unreal that it was comical to him. He pressed his thin lips together, trying his best to keep silent the nervous laugh that wanted to escape, not even letting out a snort. The bitter look on Robin's face just made him feel even worse. He wanted to laugh, but he felt so sad and awkward over his victory.

What a trainwreck his emotional state had became. He wanted to get out.

Heh, "male Robin".

They left the Smash Run stadium without exchanging a word. Robin wished she could talk to Rob without sounding like a sore loser. She was feeling salty, yes, but there was no reason for her to lash out on him, he'd won that round fair and square.

"Well, now I remember why I don't like Smash Run that much," Rob said, breaking the silence between them once they got away from Master Hand.

"What are you talking about? You won," Robin frowned. "I should be the one complaining here."

"Yeah, well, I got lucky there for a while with the challenge doors," he confessed.

"Oh, so you mean to tell me that, while I was getting beaten to a bloody pulp by a Clubberskull, you kept getting rewarded for opening some doors."

"If you put it that way..."

"I can't believe you won by luck."

"Hey, it wasn't just luck!" he said, offended. "That helped, but most of the boosts I got by my own work."

"You just got lucky," she teased. "Your victory had nothing to do with your strategy skills."

"At least, I didn't throw myself at a Clubberskull, unprepared, thinking I had any chances of defeating it," Rob retorted. "At least I knew which enemies to attack because I know where my strength lies."

"It was a good plan!" Robin snarled. "There were no enemies, the floor was lava and I would keep spamming it with magic spells. It was the Mimicutie that screwed everything up!"

"A good tactician usually would have a backup plan for in case something like this happened," he said with a smug grin, ignoring the murderous glare he was receiving from her. "A true tactician wouldn't have fallen for such a simple mistake. I don't think you're fit for your job, Robin."

"Fuck you, Rob!"

Oh, crap...

Rob wanted to punch himself as he saw Robin storm off, clearly offended by what he just said.

"Robin, I'm sorry!" he exclaimed, chasing after her.

He cursed under his breath as she walked faster, her steps heavy and steady on the paved ground. "Robin, come on," Rob tried calling her once more. "Wait!"

Robin turned her head, before entering the hotel again. Rob let out an exasperated sigh and slowed down his pacing. It was clear Robin was beyond mad with what he had said, so maybe it would be better to go talk to her once she calmed down.

Or he could go and talk to her right now, because he would be damned if he didn't admit that seeing her that way made him feel like the worst piece of human garbage in the world.

Rob regained his pace and did his best to follow her. With effort and dedication, he actually managed to catch up to her in one of the elevators. Catch up being the nice term for throwing himself inside the elevator when the doors were almost closing, crashing immediately into the stupefied girl. The two would have lost their balance and fallen had it not for Robin supporting their weight with her back on the wall behind her.

"What do you think you're doing?" she hissed, still holding him tight.

"In my defense, this wouldn't have happened if you didn't run off like that," he said, blushing from embarrassment. "Still, I wanted to apologize."

Robin said nothing, instead, looking at the other passengers by her side, making Rob realize that they weren't alone in that small space. By their side stood a rather amused Lucario and two young female Villagers, one of them with pink hair and the other with a very odd hairstyle of three ponytails, who kept gossiping between them and giggling at the two tacticians.

Rob immediately got away from her and hastily fixed his hair and clothes, trying to look semi-presentable to the judging looks from the other Smashers.

"Nice sprint you did there," the pink haired Villager said, jokingly and without any hint of malice.

"I've been training," Rob said, trying to joke along, but still very embarrassed. "You think I have a chance now in the tournament?"

"I think you're ready," the girl giggled.

Robin just crossed her arms and rolled her eyes, not really noticing that Lucario kept looking at her and Rob with curiosity. The Pokemon had always been a mystery to the Smashers, so nobody ever bothered to ask him what was in his mind.

The two Robins left the elevator in a hurry once it reached their floor, being followed by Lucario, who also had his room in the fourth floor. The two stood there awkwardly, watching the Pokemon calmly pass by them, his amber eyes fixated on the two tacticians for a while before he walked away. Lucario sure was a weird one.

"You ever got what was Lucario's deal?" Rob asked casually.

"Can you blame him for looking funny at us, when you threw yourself at me like that?" she asked, still a little irritated.

"If you just waited and talked to me like a mature person, this wouldn't have happened."

"Oh, gee, sorry for being upset about you insulting me."

"Your sarcasm is dully noted," he said deadpanned, before rubbing the back of his neck. "Well... Sorry for that."

"For throwing yourself at me?"

"No, for saying that you're not a good tactician and that you're not fit for your job. I know this really means a lot to you. And, well, I would be this offended too if someone said that to me, so..."

There was a five second silence between them, before Robin cracked up a very light, almost unnoticeable smile. Rob definitely would have missed it if he wasn't paying attention to her lips.

Wait, what?

"Fine," she said, giving him a very light punch to the shoulder. "I know you didn't do it on purpose."

"Of course not."

Now it was Rob's turn to smile. And he had no idea why, he had no idea what made him want to, but he extended his hand to her face, so similar to his, his thumb gently stroking her cheek as his mind became numb from the moment. His heart skipped a beat once he noticed that, instead of pulling herself away, Robin just closed her eyes and tilted her head slightly to where his hand was, seeming to melt away by his touch.

"Rob..." she sighed. "What are you doing?"

"I..."

And then his mind snapped back to reality.

What was he doing?

He immediately pulled his hand away, causing Robin to open her eyes and look awkwardly at the floor. That was not supposed to happen at all. Where was his self-control when he needed it most? It couldn't just somersault away and come back when he had already screwed everything up, that was ridiculous. And to think he was almost bringing her face next to his.

"Well then..."

"Yeah."

"I don't know what's gotten to me."

"It's okay."

"So..."

"Yeah..."

"I'll see you around then?"

"Uh, sure," Robin forced a smile. "See you."

They had no idea where or what they were going to do, but anything that served as an excuse to avoid each other for a while was valid.

* * *

**That part about Rob winning against Captain Falcon with a 0.1 second difference in the final race was actually something that happened to me. I swear almost threw my 3DS out of the window when I saw Robin on the victory screen and the results showing the time, it was a Christmas miracle. And it's kind of ironic how I made the Robins hate Smash Run this much because Robin is the character I use the most when playing this mode. Smash Run is great and almost compensates the lack of a story mode (almost).**

**Smash Tour, on the other hand, can go fuck itself.**

**So here's the question that won't shut up: Smash Run or Smash Tour? (or "None, Sakurai give us back a story mode"?)**


	7. Hanging on to precious memories

**I'm sorry for taking longer to update, though. I've had some emotional problems these days and couldn't write this chapter to save my life for most of the week.**

* * *

By the time she saw Robin bring her hand to her left cheek and then stare at nothing in particular for maybe the fourth time in only twenty minutes, Whitney knew she had to be a little intrusive. "Are you feeling well, Robin?" the yoga trainer asked in concern.

"Hm?"

Robin wondered if she should be sincere with the trainer, after all, being sincere with Whitney would be the least she could do to thank her for taking her out for a walk when she found Robin in the patio, seated on the bench, distracted because of distress. Robin at first wanted to say that she was fine, that Whitney didn't need to worry about her. One look at her flushed cheeks gave away all the lies she wanted to tell, so Robin decided to accept her invitation and go with her to the nearest coffee shop.

Whitney was a nice person, really. Robin should start spending more time with her more often. Intentionally, that is. Maybe then she would feel more at ease in telling her her problems. It would be nice to have someone to rely her problems on that wasn't Shulk. Poor guy had already slept through her ramblings last time, maybe it was time she gave him some space.

The price of the coffee the shop sold, however, was not that nice.

"Must all food here be this overpriced?" Robin commented, examining a brownie displayed on the shelf by their side while the two waited in line.

"You didn't answer my question."

"I'm okay," she lied. "It's nothing to worry about."

"If you say so," Whitney was not convinced at all.

They reached the cashier, paid for their drinks, their wallets getting stabbed by the prices in the process, and found a nice spot on the one of the sofas next to the front window. For a while, both women just drank their coffee in silence, neither knowing what to say to each other. Well, Whitney didn't know what to say. Robin had her mind so out there that she forgot for a moment that she was supposed to help her on engaging in a conversation.

Whitney couldn't understand what was going on. She had such a nice time with Robin before, now it seemed like the girl in front of her was a completely different person. Oh, right, last time! She could use something they talked about last time to bring her down to the ground.

"So, I remember you mentioning you had a competition with your..." Whitney paused, digging through her memory Robin's long explanation about her and Rob's relationship. "Male counterpart? Anyway, how was the fight against him? You said it would start today, right?"

Robin cringed a little at the "male counterpart" bit, but kept her bitter distaste to herself. "Yeah, it was today," she took a sip. "Had to go through Smash Run, had my ass kicked by a Clubberskull, a Mimicutie and a flock of Ghastlies and Magikoopas," she took another sip, this time more audible, her fingers slightly grasping the cup tighter. "It was awful."

"I can see that," the trainer gave an awkward smile. "But, hey, it's been only the first day. You haven't won on Smash Run, so what? What really matters is how well you perform in the battlefield, right?"

"I suppose."

"Is that what's bothering you so much?"

No, what bothered her wasn't that, not even by a long shot. It was that little gesture of Rob's back in the hotel that kept plaguing her mind for the past couple of hours. Now, Robin could take that as some sort of weird teasing from his part. She was already pretty used to him making unnecessary commentaries just to get a reaction from her, but he was never... Physical. Robin could feel her stomach turn with nervousness as the mere memory of his oddly gentle touch came back to her mind.

Gods, she was pathetic. What was she, a teenager? And to think she almost leaned forward back then.

"Robin, you're red," Whitney said nonchalantly.

"It's the coffee."

"You don't need to lie, you know? I can take a 'I don't want to talk about this' just fine."

"Okay, then, I don't want to talk about this."

"Hey, I asked you to be sincere, but not this much!"

Robin made sure to change the subject as quickly as possible, for her own sake. As much as Whitney didn't want to show, Robin could see that she was itching in her seat to know what was going on with her. For someone who appeared that calm and collected, Whitney sure was a curious person, almost in a phony way.

Maybe a little bit too much. Robin could swear that the trainer was just an inch away from grabbing her shoulders and trying to make her spill out what her problem was. She probably already had an idea of what was going on, but just wanted confirmation. Robin tried to talk about other things, but Whitney always got back to asking why she was acting so odd.

Okay, she wanted Shulk back. Whitney was nice, but her passive-aggressive demands for an explanation were starting to overwhelm her and she didn't feel like opening up to her at all. Robin would make sure to go out next time with Whitney when she was completely okay emotionally.

* * *

Unlike Robin, Rob decided to spend some time with more familiar people to him. And by people, that meant only Lucina. In any other situation, he would make a remark to himself to try to make more friends, but he was in too much deep emotional turmoil to care. He didn't want to pour out his feelings to her or anything, he just wanted to get his mind distracted. The silly game he was playing on his phone while he waited could do so much before he got bored and started to think about Robin again.

"Oh, Robin, there you are," the tactician heard the familiar voice behind him. He got up from the sofa and turned around to find Lucina and Shulk standing there, their hair messy and faces covered in sweat from the intense training. Seeing Lucina in that state was already a normal sight to him, but he didn't expect to see Shulk there too.

Since when Shulk started hanging out with Lucina? Not that Rob would complain, he also liked Shulk, despite not being nearly as close to him as Robin was. In fact, both she and Shulk were so close, that anyone could easily assume that the two were dating.

And that mere thought made him dislike Shulk a little more. And feel a little more stupid because of a silly assumption.

"So, how was your fight today?" Shulk asked. "I'm sorry I wasn't there to watch. I was helping Lucina with training."

"It was intense, that's all I can say..."

"So, who won?" Lucina asked eagerly.

Rob sighed internally. "I did," he said, surprisingly nonchalant. "It wasn't easy and I really thought that I was going to lose, but for some miracle I won."

"Congratulations!" Lucina said, happily clapping her hands. "I knew you could do it!"

"I... uh... Thank you, Lucy," Rob scratched the back of his head.

"Oh, that's too bad for Robin," Shulk said, bringing Rob's attention to him. "Do you know where she is?"

"Why?" he raised an eyebrow at him.

Any other person would realize the certain tension in that simple question from Rob, however Shulk wasn't one to read atmospheres that well. When it came to reading other people's emotions, the young seer was as clueless as one could get.

"Because I think she might want to have someone to cheer her up."

"Well, I don't know. After the battle we went on separate ways. She didn't tell me where she was going," the tactician said. It was mostly true, he really didn't know where she was. That small bit about him cupping her cheek on his hand like a lovestruck idiot was best left unmentioned though.

He wanted to tell him that Robin wanted to be left alone, but his dick move quota was already filled for pretty much the rest of the week thanks to what he said a few moments ago, so he just kept his mouth shut.

"I see," he said putting a hand on his chin. "I'm going to search for her, then. Later, you two."

Shulk waved his goodbyes and left the other two Smashers, still oblivious to Rob's discomfort. He could hear the tactician's confused exclamation to something Lucina had said and would take a shot in the dark and assume she had already told him about her plan on changing her fighting style. To that, he wished his friend good luck. He would probably need it, what with Lucina now wanting to find a spear and a lance to incorporate them in her move set.

He took out the cell phone he had in his cargo shorts' pocket (a wonderful invention, in his humble opinion) and searched for his best friend's number.

"Robin?"

"_Shulk? Hey_," the voice on the other end of the call said. "_How are you?_"

"Fine, I guess," he shrugged his shoulders. "What about you? How did it go with today's battle?"

"_Could have been a lot better,_" she grumbled. "_I lost._"

"Yeah, Rob told me everything. Are you okay?"

"_Nothing I won't get over with,_" she said hesitantly. "_So, uh, you want me to come over there?_"

"I never said anything about you coming to see me, but if you want to..."

"_Oh, okay, I'll see you then,_" she pressed on. "_You'll wait in the lobby? Okay, I'll be there in ten minutes. See you!_"

Shulk heard his friend end the call, confused for a while, before realizing that Robin probably was trying to escape from someone. She did sound hesitant, almost measuring her own words, so that would not be a bad guess.

He would wait, only because he was pretty worried for Robin. Also because she was lucky that he was searching for her to begin with. Shulk went back to the lobby, where Rob and Lucina were a few moments before, and sat in one of the various empty velvet sofas. The Homs kept messing with his phone, a light smile on his lips. He liked the technology from this world, even if he had a lot of equivalents back in Bionis.

Seriously, though, his journey would have been so much easier if he had one of these cell phones. All the favors he did to strangers could have taken just half the time. And to keep in touch with his friends. That would have been great! He could keep in touch with his friends, like Reyn, Melia or Sharla.

Or Fiora.

"Fiora..."

He was sure Fiora would have liked one of those. Shulk was starting to feel his heart tighten as more memories of his childhood friend came to his mind. It had been a long time since he's had feelings towards her that went beyond friendship, that was true. And who could blame him? Fiora was kind, caring, spirited and very, very beautiful. He would spend hours talking to her and just goofing around in the calm afternoons of Colony 9, and would give anything to have that chance to do it again once more.

Except those wonderful memories he had of her weren't his. He never met Fiora once and never would, those were all feeling the original Shulk felt. Yet, he still he latched onto them with his dear life. It was almost masochistic, in a way.

Well... Shulk got sad pretty fast. That was a new record for him.

"Shulk?" someone asked.

He looked up from his device and found Robin staring at him, hands clasped together over her tights and slightly bending over. Her sheer dedication to arrive earlier than predicted sure said something about how much time she wanted to spend with whoever was with her.

"I'm so sorry for doing this to you," she apologized sheepshily. "It's just that Whitney wouldn't stop talking and..."

"It's okay, I called you exactly because I wanted to see if you are doing well," Shulk said, waving his hand as if that was nothing.

"Oh, Shulk, I just lost one lousy fight. I still have four more to go," she said. "Maybe even three, if I win the next three days in a row."

"I'm not talking about the fights, I want to know about you and Rob."

"R-Right..."

"You didn't lose because..."

"Gods, no, my crush on him haven't reached this state... I think."

"You think?" the blonde asked in disbelief.

"It was a round of Smash Run without a final showdown, okay? I didn't get to face him directly."

So the vision he had early that morning didn't happen yet. Maybe he should warn her about what he saw. That wouldn't be favoritism, after all, Rob already had one victory already and Robin was at a disadvantage. Maybe...

"Shulk, you look kind of worried," Robin commented. "Maybe I should be the one asking if you are okay?"

"I'm fine, it's nothing worth discussing, trust me."

Robin shook her head and sighed. Shulk almost never said anything about what he was feeling, always prefering to keep things to himself. Robin couldn't help but worry about him. Shulk was a wonderful listener and an even more amazing friend, but when it came to him opening up to her, he was one of the most stubborn people Robin has ever met and would try to shift the conversation to her whenever possible. And that was saying something, because she already had to deal with a good bunch of stubborn people in her past life.

She hoped that whatever was bothering him was nothing serious.

"Whatever you say then," she grumbled.

"Seriously, I'm fine," he put a hand on her shoulder. "And... About you and Rob, I promise I'll go watch your next fight and root for you."

"Root for me?" she giggled. "Don't you think Rob will feel offended by you preferring me?"

"I'm not talking about the fights, Robin."

* * *

"Seriously, Lucina? A lance and a spear?"

"Why?" the blue haired swordswoman asked. "Do you think it would be too convoluted for me to use three kinds of weapons?"

"Honestly, yes."

"Oh, alright," Lucina said, crossing the blue stick figure on the paper in front of her that yield the closest thing to a lance as it could get with a sharpie. "Then I'm going to use just with the spear."

"Luci, just stick with Falchion," Rob pleaded. "What good will it do to you if you use a spear?"

"I would have a projectile. Those are always good."

"Okay, that makes some sense. But why do you want to change your fighting style?"

"So people wouldn't complain about me being a copycat of the Hero King."

It was three in the afternoon, Rob was tired from having to face off against a bunch of Chandelures and Metroids, he just came back from apologizing for accidentally being a huge dick to his newly found crush, and now Lucina developed a sudden fear over what people would think of her as a Smasher.

So there they were, seated on one of the empty tables of the outside bar, scribbling stick figures on paper in order to come up with good move plans for Lucina. The cold and ugly weather shooed away anyone remotely interested in spending a good time with their friends there, so it came to no surprise that only Rob and Lucina were there in the bar. Them and the former Smasher and current barman, Solid Snake, how stayed behind the balcony, meticulously cleaning it from dust that wasn't there.

"Okay, let's pretend that you being similar to Marth is a problem," he ignored Lucina's glare. "How do you plan on getting a spear, if all of our weapons are provided to us by Master Hand? The only way would be possible if you asked him for one, but I don't suppose he would be too fond of this idea."

"I could try talking to him," she put a hand on her chin.

Her line of thought was interrupted by a loud cough coming from the balcony. The two swordsmen turned their heads and saw Snake looking at them with a rather amused expression. "Listen, kid," he said, dropping the worn out piece of cloth. "I'm not usually one to butt in conversations and whatnot, but this thing you're planning won't work if you talk directly to Master Hand."

"Well, thanks for being so helpful," Rob snarled.

"Keep your smart ass comments to yourself and wait until I finish explaining," the ex-soldier said. "Master Hand won't provide you any new weapon. But you can always try getting one somewhere else. Buy one in a specialized store or even forge one, if you're capable of."

"What if he doesn't approve of me using a different weapon?" Lucina asked, now feeling unsure. "If he would refuse helping me with getting a new weapon, then certainly..."

"Give him a demonstration of what else you can do and he might consider letting you implement it in your move set," Snake simply said. "Think of it as a presentation of prototype of sorts."

"But Peach said that Master Hand doesn't listen to anyone," Rob said.

"She's kind of right, he doesn't. Master Hand isn't interested in just listening to ideas. He wanna see them in action before making a decision."

"Not much of a risk taker, uh?"

"The guy created us and this whole world, give him a break."

Rob looked at Lucina with uncertainty, waiting for her final world on the subject. He still thought that trying to change the way she fought was risky and the chances of that backfiring on her were huge. But in the end the decision was hers. He already said what he thought about it, so he could only hope she would take his words to heart.

"Sir Snake, do you happen to know if there is a weapon store nearby?" Lucina asked with a gleam in her eyes.

Gods be damned, Lucina.

"Heh, 'Sir Snake' does have a nice ring to it," he smirked. "I know one, but I'm not sure they sell what you're looking for. The weapons there are more for home decoration than anything, but who knows? You might find something there."

"Let's see now who is the one who isn't trying enough," Lucina smiled brightly to herself.

"Gimme a paper and a pen," he said, reaching his hand to her. "I'll give ya the address."

* * *

**Not my favorite chapter, but I hope I got some small development for Shulk. I can imagine Snake having another job after he retired from being a Smasher, but I'm not sure if he would be able to go back to his old ways (that he never had to begin with).**

**I'm sorry for taking longer to update, though. I've had some emotional problems these days and couldn't write this chapter to save my life for most of the week. I'll try to make next chapter better.**

**Oh, and answering anon's question on chapter 5, about what I thought would make a good move set for Daisy. I don't have one, but I think they could work a lot with the Mario games spinoffs. She could be living embodiment of Mario spinoffs! She could roll a dice and whatever number it showed it would be a different attack, making a call back to Mario Party. She could do like Wario and Bowser Jr. and ride a kart as her side b. And, of course, her taunts would be nothing but "Hi, I'm Daisy!", because we need an annoying taunt to match Brawl Sonic's.**

**Oh, and about Link not having a voice... Yeah, last time Nintendo gave him the art of speech, we got a really annoying 80's catchphrase and lots of Youtube poop material. We learn from the mistakes of the past to not repeat them in the present.**


	8. So, do you wanna kiss again?

**I tried to do something different with the flow of this chapter, so if you like it or not, just let me know. I know I have said this before, but maybe my updates will get a little slower from now on, sorry.**

* * *

"I hope you are well and ready for your second battle today," Master Hand announced to the mages bellow him.

Rob and Robin grumbled in unison, eyes almost closed and mouths slightly agape from tiredness. Of all days they were forced to fight against each other early int he morning, it had to be this one? They were already restless and dizzy as they were, the last thing they wanted was to have Master Hand's booming voice resonating through their eardrums at 9 am. His voice was so powerful that made Rob wonder how the massive glass window that covered the entire wall behind his desk didn't shatter with it. Either it was a very solid and thick glass, or Rob's hearing sensitivity due to exhaustion was making him hear worse.

It could very well be both. The point is, Rob didn't want to be there. Master Hand could get that competition that he was forcing upon them and shove it up his... Something. Whatever his ass was supposed to be. Even it there wasn't any and his wrist was the closest thing to a rear their master would get, Rob would still imagine he had one. It suited the face he imagined for him. He hated he sound of his voice this early in the morning, he hated being in his squeaky clean, minimalist aesthetic bullshit of an office, he hated that the weather was now starting to clean up, so there were no clouds to cover the rays of morning sunshine that came through the windows and burned what little was uncovered of his retinas.

But, above all, he felt slightly upset for feeling so awkward when near his female counterpart after what happened last night between them. He didn't like it. He hated being so confused by everything that was happening between them.

That was a lot of hate for one morning, he couldn't cause even more headaches than he already had at the moment. Rob took a deep and silent breath to calm himself down. He subtly glanced over Robin, who still had her snooze mode face on. What was she thinking about? Was she even thinking at all or was her brain still trying to get to work? By the way she tried disguising another yawn, a third in the latest twenty minutes, he would guess it was the latter.

"I see you haven't gotten much rest last night," Master Hand commented.

"I'm... Sorry," she rubbed her eyes. "I'll get better once we get to today's battle."

"Uh, yeah," Rob scratched his head. "Me too."

There was a short silence between them. "Very well," their boss said, gesturing for them to follow him outside the office. "We shall go to Arena Ferox today. If you please follow me."

"Arena Ferox, uh?" Robin whispered, remembering what Shulk had told her yesterday.

* * *

_"...And that's pretty much it," Shulk finished explaining his vision to the tactician._

_"Spamming me with magic," Robin chuckled. "That's really something he would do. Rob was always more fond of using tomes than I."_

_"Tell me about it..."_

_"I'll see what I can do. Was there anything else in your vision?"_

_"I don't know... I mean, his spells seemed stronger, somehow, so I'd really watch out for them."_

_"Maybe he got some stats boosts," she put a hand on her chin. "Anyway, I'll keep in mind what you just said. Rob will probably camp in some part of the arena and keep throwing spells at me. I'll just make sure to dodge them in time and use the Bronze and Levin swords on him."_

* * *

As they went over to the door, Master Hand saw Lucina and Shulk stationed just outside his office's door with their backs resting on the wall and chatting quietly among themselves.

"I presume you two are here to watch Robin's battle?" the hand asked, a little surprised with their presence there.

"Oh, Master Hand, good morning," Lucina greeted politely, quickly straightening herself up. "We actually were just waiting to ask you if it was alright to accompany them."

"It is quite alright, as long as you don't have any battles scheduled for now," the hand shrugged it off.

"Only in the afternoon," Shulk said, being accompanied by a nod of head from Lucina.

Shulk gave a concerned look at Robin, who didn't noticed his gaze and just yawned. Whatever happened to her it didn't look like it would do favors in today's battle. She didn't even bother neatly braiding her hair and just sported a lazy low ponytail. Though, really, the most prevalent thing in her face were the two huge eye bags under her eyes. Rob also didn't look any better.

Since everyone was set, Master Hand snapped his fingers and teleported the fours Smashers to the entrance of the Arena Ferox stadium. The act was sudden and it didn't take them a second to go from the hotel to the stadium, which, while in theory was a lot more practical than going by cab or bus, the simple fact of having to suddenly materialize in a completely different place was a traumatizing experience to someone's body, so it came to no surprise to Master Hand that the Smashers started to feel slightly nauseated once they arrived.

Except for Shulk, who had eaten just about ten minutes ago and looked incredibly sick.

"Please refrain from vomiting here," Master Hand motioned for them to follow him.

Rob and Robin nodded and followed the floating white hand, while Shulk just walked further away and threw up near the closest post he could find. Lucina quickly rushed by his side and massaged his back in sympathy, motioning her hand for the Robins, who had turned around to see what the fuss was about, to continue walking. "We'll be there in a minute," she said.

"They'll be fine, let's go," Rob whispered to his roommate.

"Okay," she subtly inched away from him and walked ahead.

Rob let out a sigh and followed her.

* * *

_Rob watched Lucina leave the elevator as they reached the floor her room was, Falchion strapped to her hip, still tired from the match 2-stock match she had against Diddy Kong and Bowser Jr at the Onett stage. While she still didn't have a spear, the swordswoman thought it was a great opportunity to test out her new moves she came up with for her, only to realize midway in the fight that getting used to her new style would take a lot more energy that she thought it would. It didn't help that Diddy Kong was a monster in the __battlefield__ and wouldn't stop jumping from place to another, landing quickly and strong kicks and punches mid-air. Bowser Jr was a little easier to deal with, but fighting both young Smashers did take a tool on her._

_The tactician could only watch her leave, dragging her tired feet on the red velvet carpet, with sympathy and hope she would give up on the idea of changing her move set, before she realizes how poorly that idea was being executed in the hard way. He got off from the elevator once he arrived on the next floor, having only to be careful to not step on any of the little Pikmin that occupied about 2/3 of the elevator. He waited for Olimar and Alph to lead them away from him and walked calmly to the left, his tiredness slowly hitting him as he got closer and closer to his room._

_He opened the door and noticed the lights were already turned on, meaning Robin had already arrived before him._

_"Robin? Hey, I'm back."_

_Just as he thought, there she was, laying on her bed, book in hands and an open bag of chips by her side. She was already wearing her usual white tank top and purple shorts to sleep and had her hair down and __unkempt.__ She seemed completely immersed in her book, enough for her to only mutter a 'hey' without raising her head._

_"You are here early," Rob commented as he threw his boots on the carpeted floor._

_"Heh, I just wanted to sleep early this time," she turned a page. "You know, since our battle tomorrow is so early in the morning."_

_"Don't even remind me," Rob grumbled, throwing his heavy coat on a chair and belly flopping on his bed. "So, is this book any good?"_

_"it could be a lot better," she laughed, turning her head to him. "It's a romance that Peach suggested me the other day. Too much sugary for my taste, but it's harmless. Honestly, I think it's __something__ Sumia would like to read."_

* * *

They followed Master Hand to inside the stadium, passing by the Miis working on cleaning the place for another day of activities and that only stopped what they were doing to pay their respects to the big hand. Rob saw Master Hand choosing a random female Mii and asking her to go outside and clean after Shulk's puke. He could see her disguising her annoyance and leave after giving a nod of her head and with cleaning utensils in hand. Not the best way to start the day, even if cleaning was her job. Rob couldn't help but feel sympathy for her.

They reached a chromatic door that was at the end of the extensive dim-lit, gray corridor. Behind that door was the room that had the transporter platforms responsible for transporting the Smashers to their designated stages. Each stadium had about ten stages, so the transporters were a wonderful invention that avoided convoluted walking from stage from stage.

Master Hand motioned for them to stop on their tracks. "Now, I only need one of you to follow me," he announced, raising the tacticians' eyebrows. "I shall call the other one briefly."

"Hm, Rob, you can go first, if you want," Robin said, pointing to the door.

"Fine."

Rob followed Master Hand and shut the door. The room was truly something different from the rest of the stadium, being incredibly well-lit with fluorescent lamps and looking something that came out from a modern sci-fi movie. Rob couldn't understand what half of those machines and screens were for, but he knew enough to set the neon platforms on the floor to take him to where he wanted, so that was already something. However, there was a new element there that took him by surprise.

"Stats boosts?"

Right in front of him were displayed the stats boosts that he would encounter in Smash Run. Speed, Jump, Attack, Special, Arms and Defense, all six were there. He already had an idea of where that was going, but he would let Master hand explain it to him.

"In today's fight, you will chose one stat you would like to buff," Master Hand explained. "However, for one strength you gain, you must also chose a weakness. You are a tactician, so I expect you to chose wisely what would suit you better."

Right, one strength and one weakness. Rob analyzed the stats carefully, wondering what would be best for him. He was by far one of the (if not THE) slowest fighters in Smash Bros, so boosting up his speed would be a nice choice. But did he really want it? Rob was never a big fan of running around the stages, preferring to take strategic spots using his magic tomes on his enemies instead. If he upped his special attacks he would cause quite the damage, or if he made his defense better, he might just become a mighty glacier.

But then he had to choose a weakness.

Since he wasn't a big fan of moving around, he could weaken his speed, or his arms, since he wasn't a big fan of grabbing his opponents and throwing them around like rag-dolls.

What to do...

* * *

_It was only after some good ten minutes of not exchanging a word with each other that Robin decided to break the silence._

_"Rob..." Robin said in a rather quiet voice, closing the book she held and setting it aside as she sat up with crossed legs. "I'm still curious about something. What was up with that back then, after you apologized to me?"_

_"You mean..."_

_"Yeah," she hugged her stomach. "Uh, that."_

_"To be honest, I have no idea," he said, also sitting up._

_"What? Come on, there must have been a reason," she eyed him suspiciously._

_"I swear that there wasn't any!" he lied between teeth. Just drop the subject already, Robin. He didn't want to discuss that any longer._

_"If you say so..." Robin turned her head away, her fingertips touching her cheek. "But... It felt nice," she whispered with a sheepish smile. "It's not like you to act nice like this, especially around me."_

_"What are you talking about? I am gentle!"_

_"Not as much as when you're around Lucina," there was a hint of bitterness in her voice._

_"Around... Lucina," Rob mumbled, __completely__ dumbfounded. "Wait, are you jealous of her?!"_

_"Why would I be jealous?" she tightened her grip on her stomach. "You and her can do what you want with your life, I don't care."_

_"Except there's nothing happening between us. I love Lucina like a sister," he explained, now sitting at the edge of her bed. "If anything, I should be the one wondering what is the deal between you and Shulk."_

_"Shulk?!" now it was Robin's turn to be surprised. "Rob, we're just close friends!"_

_"How close?"_

_"Platonic type of close, stop being ridiculous!" she threw her pillow at him, who caught it in midair and rested it on his lap. "And why would you care, anyway?"_

_"You tell me! You're the one who was getting worked up over implying I was having an affair with Lucina," he leaned closer._

_There was a crushing silence between the two tacticians, brown eyes meticulously scanning each other in search for a single __glimpse__ of a lie. Yet, they could find none. At that point, the tension between them should have at least started to dissipate a little. After all, none of them were actually having an affair with their friends, so that should have calmed their spirits down._

_Instead, they just continued to nervously stare at each other. So Rob, genius tactician and mastermind that he was, decided to do the most sensible and logical thing someone in that situation could do._

* * *

Robin took a deep breath as she spawned at the Arena Ferox stage, the announcer's voice echoing through the vast place. That was going to be one awkward fight, she could feel it. At least it was a three-minute free-for-all, so no matter how much they dragged it, she knew it would be over after long and tortuous three minutes.

**3... 2... 1... GO!**

Robin dashed towards her opponent, taking advantage of the time he took to charge up his thunder tome. She sidestepped just in time to avoid an Elthunder spell, the ball of electricity flying centimeters away from her nose, and took the chance to slash him with her Bronze sword.

It was rather curious how, despite their similarities, both Robins had different ways of fighting. They had the same attacks and special moves, but that was about it. Robin was a lot more aggressive, having a preference over taking more risks and using her Bronze and Levin swords more often and only using her tomes when she was in a dire situation and was forced stay away from her opponent when her damage percent was already high enough to make her be sent flying with ease. Rob, on the other hand, only ever use the Levin sword when he had overused his magic and had to wait for them to recharge.

He rolled out of the way before Robin could slash him once more. From the way she moved, it was safe to bet that she preferred to boost her speed. "Arcfire!" he shouted, throwing a big ball of fire in an arc motion at Robin in order to stop her. Unfortunately, she activated her shield. Fortunately, he took that as an opportunity to grab her by the collar and force her to her knee, since shields could not protect the fighter from being grabbed.

Luckily for her, Robin managed to break free before any real damage could be done. Rob kept spamming Arcfires, trying to force her to retreat to the border of the arena.

"Ah, there he is!" Shulk exclaimed from one of the bleachers. "It's the vision I had."

"Vision?" Master Hand, who was currently floating by his and Lucina's side, asked. "Did you foresee this outcome, Shulk?"

"I-It was just this part," it was technically a half-truth. "I didn't tell them anything, though."

"Right..."

"You can do it, Robin!" Lucina cheered.

"I thought you were cheering for Rob?" Shulk asked.

"But I am."

Robin jumped over her opponent, using Elwind to carry her up and hit him from above and stopping him from trying to burn her alive.

It was time to tip the scales in her favor.

* * *

_Rob leaned forward and pressed his lips against hers, bringing himself close enough to her that their knees touched. And for a moment there, everything seemed right. For those short five seconds, he was in pure bliss, the rest of the world didn't matter int he slightest._

_However, as soon as Robin pulled herself away, her eyes staring at him wide open in shock, the sudden realization of what just happened hit him like a bullet. What had he done? Why did he kiss her like that without a second thought? Chrom would better appear out of thin air and fire him from his position of tactician, because for someone who was required to use the most logical of thoughts, Rob was doing a piss poor job at keeping his reason intact._

_He mumbled a__n__ apology and hastily got up from her bed, without any courage to look her in the face. That shower sounded really inviting all of a sudden. It sure did..._

_Rob felt a firm grasp on his wrist, forcing him to a halt. Was she going to slap him? He wouldn't be surprised if that was the case. To his surprise, however she made him turn around and crashed her lips on his once more, shakily, yet gently, caressing his soft white hair in the process. The kiss in itself was messy, kind of sloppy and far from perfect, but Robin would be lying if she said that wasn't one of the most wonderful sensations she ever felt. Her heart started beating even faster once she realized that, not only Rob didn't break them up, but he actually pulled her into a tight embrace, returning the kiss with the same passion._

_They continued liked that for quite some time, until suddenly Robin found herself pinned against a wall by her roommate. _

_"Rob," she let out a breathy moan, receiving another kiss from him. "M-Maybe..."_

_"Hm?"_

_"We should stop."_

_As if waking up from a trance, he let go of Robin, still trying to catch his breath. She was right, maybe they should stop._

_That didn't mean he wanted to. Honestly, with the sight of her there back against a wall, ruffled hair, mouth agape from panting and messy tank top that exposed enough cleavage (and man, it sure was something), it was all enough for him to want to throw her in his bed and go even further from where they stopped._

_Basically, what he needed was a huge dump of freezing water on his head._

_"Uh, yeah, I'll just... Go take a shower, or something," he mumbled, pointing with his thumb at the door behind him._

_Robin bit her lower lip nervously and walked away from him and sat on her bed again, not really paying attention to anything in particular. Rob gave one last look at her and walked towards the door to the bathroom. He was about to grab the doorknob, but his hand froze on the spot._

_What was he thinking? It was Robin who he was lusting over. Robin, the girl that occupied his role in some sort of alternate universe and could easily pass of as his twin. In fact, for a lot of people there who were not that close to them, the two were actually considered twins to them. But of course they were not twins, that was preposterous. They were just different versions of the same person. That wasn't weird at all. _

_No, that was pretty fucking weird._

_"Hey, Robin."_

_"Yes?"_

_Robin turned her attention towards him, still visibly nervous, and saw Rob slowly walking up to her, awkwardly rubbing the back of his neck and eyes glued on the floor._

_"Can I ask you something?"_

_"..."_

_"D-Did that feel good?"_

_She turned her head to the other side._

_"It's just that... I thought..."_

_"..."_

_"Do you want to make out again?"_

_"..." _

_Rob winced from the lack of response. Okay, maybe he really should get going and leave her alone._

_"... Yeah."_

_And that was enough of an answer to him. Rob immediately rushed to his counterpart's side and threw himself in her arms._

* * *

"HIYA!"

Robin slashed her Levin sword in the air, making contact with Rob's stomach as he tried to recover to the stage using Elwind. Due to the high damage he had already suffered, there was no way he could survive after one of their strongest attack and the male tactician was sent flying away.

"Alright, good," Robin whispered as she landed on the stage.

She ran to the opposite side of Arena Ferox, praying silently for the platforms that would appear every now and then to rise from the ground. She already had one KO pointed guaranteed, and with only thirty seconds to go, all she had to do was avoid Rob and keep throwing magic spells at him to keep him away.

Robin looked up and saw the respawn platform appearing above her. She stepped back as Rob jumped out from it and started charging his tome again. Robin didn't want to risk getting hit, so she just stood where she was, bracing herself for the time she would activate her shield. Of course, he didn't release Thoron right away, preferring to keep it until the moment was right. He ran towards her, Bronze sword ready, when the stage started to be enveloped by a purple mist, catching both by surprise. Platforms suddenly began to rise, just as Robin wanted to.

Rob cursed under his breath. Really? Was now the time for them to appear? The tactician jumped out from the one he suddenly found himself in. He saw Robin running beneath one of the slowest platforms and decided to follow her. With only twenty seconds to go, he had nothing else to lose. However, as soon as he landed on the stage, he found that Robin was closer than he'd expect and was caught by a surprise attack by her Nosferatu tome.

Nothing made him wish he could run away faster than that moment.

From the bleachers, Lucina bit her nails as the spectacle unfold bellow them. It didn't help that Shulk was right by her side, cheering for the other Robin. What was he doing? Robin usually was a lot more quick-thinking and cunning than that. Worse, it was clear that the other Robin was also not in her best conditions, because half of the attacks she did during that entire fight missed really badly.

So it really came down to who was doing less worse in that situation, which was the other Robin in this case, and Lucina just couldn't wrap her head around to why Robin was doing so terribly in that fight.

"ROBIN, YOU STILL HAVE YOUR THORON CHARGED," she screamed, making Shulk jump on his seat. "IF YOU CAN'T GET CLOSE TO HER, USE IT!"

"Lucina, I don't think he will listen to you here," Shulk tried to calm her down.

"But don't you see?" she pointed at the two tacticians. "He could easily kill her now and make them go into a Sudden Death."

"What good would it do him if he went to a draw out, when his opponent is more agile than him."

"It's still better than loosing like this," she crossed her arms, waiting for the announcer to announce the end of the match. "Something isn't right with him, I can feel it."

Shulk just kept watching, listening to Lucina's words carefully. She was right, something was wrong with them. If it was because of he was thinking or not, he couldn't know, but he just knew Robin would be more than eager to tell him.

* * *

**Can you guys tell how much will it took me to not write "but he just had the feeling" right there at the end? Ha ha, fuck that meme and fuck me for loving/hating it. Can you also tell that fighting scenes are not my ****forte****? Because they aren't.**

**I'm going to answer Ethereal780's question here, because I think it is of interest to some people: I'm not going to get into the customization moves at all. Yes, they are a thing, but they are not the default and not allowed in For Glory mode. This is also the reason why Miis are there, but they are not official Smashers.**

**I'm sorry for the lack of anyone who isn't Robin in this chapter, but I needed to reserve this chapter to only them. I'll try to show more Smashers next chapter, I swear.**

**P.S.: No, they didn't have sex or anything, but you're free to imagine how the rest of the night went for them. The thirst was real. You're welcome.**


	9. Two sides of the same coin

**Hoo, boy... Okay, so... To the people who felt a little uncomfortable with last chapter, I think you might want to skip the last half of this one, especially because I went as far as the rating T would let me (though, if you're reading a romantic story between Rob and Robin, then I have no idea what you thought you were getting when you started reading this). So, yeah... I'm sorry. **

**On a brighter note, this chapter was finished much sooner than I thought. I wonder why. **

**I wonder.**

**And, once again, I want to thank Makokam for beta reading this chapter for me! Seriously, thank you!**

* * *

In less than ten minutes after their fight was over and Robin was declared winner, Rob, Robin, Lucina and Shulk were back in the hotel in less than five minutes thanks to Master Hand's teleportation. Before any of them could exchange a word, the big hand was already gone. The lobby was already starting to burst with late morning activity. Smashers could be seen walking around here and there, some agitated, others taking their sweet time to get wherever they wanted.

"Congratulations, Robin," Lucina said, trying her best to be friendly. As much as she was rooting for Rob, it was no excuse to ignore her completely.

"Thanks..." Robin let out a yawn. "Man, I'm beat. I need to sleep badly."

"Did you get any rest last night?" she asked in concern, only noticing the eyebags now.

"Had a bad case of insomnia," she gave the best excuse she could come up with.

_And apparently Rob had too, what a coincidence, _Shulk thought, taking a good look at him. He had to admit it, he was very curious about what happened last night.

"Anyway, I'll see you guys later," Robin waved her goodbyes and made sure to get out of there before she could be stopped by any of the three Smashers.

Shulk watched her go with a puzzled expression, his curiosity now growing from the fact that Robin didn't even bother pulling him to the side to talk to him. Did she not trust him anymore or was it because Rob and Lucina were nearby and she couldn't come up with an excuse to get both of them away?

"Well, there's always tomorrow, right, Robin?" he heard Lucina say.

"Yeah, yeah, always tomorrow," Rob agreed, absentmindely.

"You don't look in the best shape either, Rob," Shulk commented. "Did something happen?"

Nothing, except that he had spent half of the night making out with Robin and the other half worrying that he had been making out with Robin. "Nothing, I just couldn't sleep well. Kept having nasty nightmares," he came up witht he second best excuse he could think of. Robin had already said insomnia, so he had to go with another thing.

"I understand completely," Lucina said, earning a glare of disbelief from Shulk. "We all suffer from traumatic nightmares every now and then, especially ones from our past, am I correct?"

"Uh, sure."

"So I take you won't be able to go with me to the weapon shop today?"

"Sorry, Lucy, I'll have to pass this time. You know I would love to go with you, but I don't think I can stand up any longer."

"Why don't you go sleep too? I'm certain a good rest now will be beneficial to you."

It wasn't as if he wanted to stay, anyway. "Thanks, Lucina," he smiled at her. "I will."

Rob said his goodbyes and walked away, leaving Shulk and Lucina behind. It was only when he was out of their sight that Shulk decided to ask Lucina how she could not see what was going on. "It's very obvious he was lying," he said, still baffled.

"I know," Lucina sighed. "I'm not stupid, Shulk. Besides, Rob's lies are a lot more elaborate and difficult to spot. That's why I suggested he sleep, because to say something like that, he must be really tired."

"I see..." he put a hand on his chin. "You know what could have happened?"

"I don't know, but I have the nagging feeling that the other Robin's involved in this," she pondered. "Do you think they had a fight last night?"

"I don't think they would fight so badly that it would take away their sleep."

"You never know..."

"By the way, you said something about a weapon shop?" he asked, changing the subject completely.

"Oh, right, I did. I was thinking about buying a spear."

"You mean you still haven't changed your mind about changing your move set?" Shulk asked, and sighing at her nod.

"Would you like to accompany me? I must admit I'm not very fond of the idea of going alone. The address Snake gave me is pretty far from here and in a very shady area."

"I have nothing else to do for the rest of the day," he shrugged his shoulders. "Sure, let's go. We're having a team battle against each other today, right? We'll go after we're done with it."

"It's settled then! Oh, thank you, Shulk!"

* * *

Robin was already asleep by the time Rob entered their room, which really said something about how tired she was, considering he decided to return just a couple of minutes after her. He saw that she had already thrown her coat, vest and boots on the floor and considered doing the same, but just didn't have enough patience to do so, so he just took out his boots and flopped on his bed.

In less than an instant, he fell asleep.

* * *

Red stood in front of Lucario's room, patiently tapping his foot on the floor while he waited for the Pokemon to answer him. Ness just stood by his side, though not as patiently as his Pokemon trainer friend. Seriously, how long would it take for Lucario to open up that door when he knew they were outside?

"Lucarioooo," Ness knocked on the door. "Open up! What's taking you so long?"

"He'll be here soon, don't rush him."

Ness couldn't understand how Red could be so patient with him. He was hungry and wanted to grab lunch soon, but Red first needed to give Lucario his daily dose of medicine before they could go.

As soon as he thought about calling for him again, they heard a click fromt he doorknob and saw a very annoyed Lucario showing up.

"_Do not fret, I was simply taking care of my daily meditation_," Lucario said.

"Medication first, meditation later," Ness whined. "Don't you care about your health?"

"_It IS good for my health._"

"Ness is just hungry," Red said as Lucario closed his door. "I said I was going to have lunch with him after we were done taking care of you."

"_There is no need for concern. I have recovered from my cold just fine._"

"Maybe, but just in case, we should keep it like this for three more days until we know for sure you have recovered."

Red was a peculiar case of a Smasher indeed. Being a Pokemon Trainer, he never had to fight his opponents directly, instead having to rely on giving commands to his three Pokemon: Squirtle, Ivysaur and Charizard. However, due to his poor performance and how difficult it was to keep up with his opponents when he changed from one Pokemon to another, Red was removed from the new tournament, but still had an active role in taking care of the Pokemon that resided in the hotel, as he had the most extensive knowledge over them, a very impressive thing for someone so young.

As such, even a Pokemon as independent as Lucario still needed him to keep his health in check.

The three Smashers were about to head back to the elevators and go to the ground floor, when Lucario stopped in his tracks. That caught the attention from the two boys, who turned around in confusion.

"You okay there, man?" Ness asked.

Lucario said nothing and just looked at the door by his side with unreadable amber eyes.

"Whose room is this anyway?" Red had a puzzled look on his face.

"_It belongs to both Robins,_" the Pokemon explained. "_There is something about their aura that makes me uneasy, yet I cannot quite understand the reason_."

"Something liiiiike..."

"_Just... Something_," Lucario shook his head and walked towards them. "_I apologize for the inconvinience. This is probably cause by a vestige of my cold._"

"Whatever, then. Let's go," Ness said, turning around and resting his hands ont he back of his head. "I still got a team battle with Lucina today and I want my stomach full for this."

Maybe then he could finally apologize to her. He felt he'd been dragging this issue for too long.

* * *

"Rob? Rob, hey," the half-asleep tactician heard Robin whisper from behind him. "Are you awake?"

He nodded his head, still groggy from his nap. He opened his eyes slightly and guessed it was the begining of the evening, considering how the room had a warm golden light painting the light lavender walls. It was going to start to get dark soon, so he seriously considered going back to sleep and wake up tomorrow.

Rob decided otherwise once he felt Robin climbing up on his bed. He moved over to give her some space, a wide smile on his face as he felt her cuddling him.

"Hey," he slightly turned his head.

She let out a sigh and buried her face on the back of his neck. "We need to talk," she said with a muffled voice.

"Yeah, I guess we do."

Rob turned around in order to face his roomate better. There was a moment of silence between them, both tacticians taking their time to let the situation sink in. Their faces were just inches apart from each other and a simple leaning forwards would make their lips touch without any effort.

"How long have you... Er..." she stuttered, suddenly avoiding his gaze. "How long have you been feeling like this towards me?"

"Longer than I took to realize, that's for sure," he carefully took out a strand of hair out from her face. "What about you?"

"A while. I don't know how it started, it just happened."

Robin then mumbled something Rob couldn't quite understand and absentmindly held his right hand, stroking the tattoo that was engraved on its back. He still had the mark of Grima for some reason. She remembered Rob once saying that from the timeline he came from, it was Chrom who dealt the final blow to Grima, meaning that, while he was defeated, he was not killed for real and Rob was not free from his connection to the fell dragon. In her timeline, it was she who finshed Grima off and put an end to the war against him, so she had no mark on her hand and was entirely free from his control.

There was nothing to worry about, though. Those were just memories of something neither of them had to go through. That mark represented nothing except a bitter reminder of the purpose they were created for.

"Robin?"

"Uh?"

She let go of his hand.

"So, what now?"

"I don't know, this is just too weird," she let out a shaky sigh. "And also kind of scary."

"I wouldn't say scary..."

"Yeah, okay, maybe 'scary' isn't the right word. I don't know, I just feel this knot in my stomach, but it's not the bad kind of type and, ugh," she buried her face in her hands. "I'm not making any sense, am I?"

Rob took her hands off from her face and gave her a light kiss.

"What about this? Does this make sense?"

"Well..."

"How did it feel?"

"It was nice."

"Just nice?"

"Rob, you just gave me a peck on the lips, don't expect me to have an orgasm over it," she gave a condescending smirk.

"Oh, yeah?"

Rob pressed his lips on hers again, this time giving a slower and more passionate kiss. For a split second he feared he would be pushed away again, but was relieved to see that not only she didn't pull herself away, but also started to incentivate him. A pleasent shiver ran down his spine as he felt her soft hand caressing the back of his neck and head, while she had her other free hand placed on his chest.

He felt a wave of heat invade his chest and work its way through his entire body. He tightly wrapped his arms around Robin's waist and pulled her closer to him until their figures framed each other perfectly. Their kiss began to slowly gain a faster pace and it took only seconds until Rob hungrily licked her lips, asking her for entrance. Robin happily obliged and opened her mouth to let their tongues meet, her entire body melting as he continued exploring her mouth with ease. A muffled moan escaped from her, as she could no longer hold it back (not that she was trying to, anyway).

And what a wonderful sound it was to Rob's ears indeed. Sure, he was used to hearing his roomate moan during the night, but those were all from the distress of a nightmare she was having. This was different and much, MUCH better. He wanted to hear more and he wanted it now.

Robin was suddenly confused as to why Rob just broke off from their kiss and gave him an annoyed look, one that seemed to demand for him to continue what he was doing. Rob just gave her a mischiveous look and, before she could do anything, she found herself laying on her back, with Rob on top of her on all fours.

"And now? How did it feel?" he smirked, his forehead almost touching hers.

"Hmm... Passable," she returned with the same smug smile. Two could play that game. "I give you a 7.8 out of 10, for effort."

Robin closed her eyes, expecting for him to go back to their kiss. She censored a gasp of surprise as she felt him planting a slow and light kiss on her jaw line, moving slowly to her neck, then back to her jaw and finally nibbling on her earlobe.

That was torture in its finest for her.

"R-Rob..." she hissed as he went back to teasing her with those light kisses on the nape of her neck. "J-Just get on w-with it... You're killing me here!"

He knew it well and was enjoying every minute of hearing her squirm and pant from the constant teasing. If he was guessing it right, he knew exactly what spot would do the trick. Rob felt her hand grabbing a good chunk of his hair and bring him to where she needed him most. That gesture in itself was already enough for him to decide to stop fooling around and get serious.

He kissed the base of her neck, this time using his tongue to trail his way to her collar bone.

"A-Ahh..."

There it was, the sound he wanted to hear the most. It was even better now that there was nothing getting in the way. Combining that with how roughly Robin was grabbing his hair at the moment, Rob had to admit he was pretty turned on at that point. He continued doing his work, assaulting every inch of her neck, stealing more vocal moans from her, when an idea crossed his mind.

"Robin," he grunted, lifting himself up and sitting on her lap.

She hesitantly opened her eyes and followed to where he gazed. A visible blush covered her cheeks, but she said nothing and consented with her head. "Just... don't go beyond that," she said between her heavy breathing.

"Sure, no problem."

Rob hastily lifted her top off, his heart beating even faster at the new sight of her breasts, her smallclothes being the only thing in the way.

"Beige, uh?"

"You were expecting a see-through lacy bra?" she let out a giggle, being followed by a grunt as he placed a kiss on her chest.

"Of course not," Rob paused for a moment. "Not the see-through part, anyway."

"Do you really think I would be wearing a cute, impractical bra when I had a battle and exercise today? It's not practical," she said. "Besides, all my black ones are washing."

Robin pulled him into another french-kiss before allowing him to work his way to her chest, all while his hand tentatively snaked to her inner thigh. Before he could go on, however he heard Robin giggling like a mad woman. He raised his head in confusion and saw his counterpart rolling her head upwards, bitting her lower lip and trying to restrain her laughter.

"Is... Something the matter?" he asked, apprehensively.

"It's just that, ha ha," she tried to sit up, but failed miserably. "I'm happy, that's all."

"Happy?"

"Yeah, happy," Robin raised her hand and gently touched his pale face. "This entire time I've been so worried you'd reject me. Because of... Well..."

"I know. Me too," he mimicked her gesture. "Robin, I know you're scared. I'm also pretty freaked out that all of this is happening. And I know I'm not the best man for you, but I..."

He was quickly silenced by Robin with a kiss on his lips.

"I love you too," she smiled.

He gave a bittersweet smile at her and rested his head on the crook of her neck. What would any of their friends think about this? Should they really care at all? They were both happy, so why should he feel any guilt?

"So, are you going to stay there or can I put my shirt back on? I'm kind of cold here."

"Can't I enjoy seeing you shirtless without you punching me for at least a little more?"

"Then take off yours too, because I'm not going to be be the only one half-naked here, mister."

He did as he was told and took off his coat, vest and shirt and went back to his original position, his skin tingilng in pleasure with the direct contact. A content sigh escaped from his lips as Robin started to comb his hair with her fingers and had her other warm embracing him by his waist.

"So... I guess that's it," he simply said.

"And that's it," she agreed. "Do you want to go have dinner later?"

"Nah, don't feel like going out. You?"

"One night without dinner won't kill us," she then lifted his chin, giving him one of the sweetest smiles he'd ever seen from her. "Besides, I... Kind of want to go on."

Rob found it kind of adorable just how bashful Robin suddenly became, a stark contrast to her more assertive personality. A playful smirk appeared on his face as he plant a soft kiss on her collarbone, before positioning himself to face her better.

"Good, because I kind of want to go on too."

* * *

**Okay, I'm not used to writing sexy make out scenes at all. This is a first for me and I think I'm still dying on the inside. Lucario's comment is kind of a gateway for something I'm planning to do with this story, but I'm not sure if I might even go with the idea, so you guys can interpert however you like what he meant with the Robins' aura making him uneasy.**

**Speaking of guilty pleasure (which is basically Rob and Robin's relationship at the point), I want to ask something: is there any pairing that's a guilty pleasure to you? I'm refering to only Smash Bros pairings, by the way. I'm sure most of us has, or had, some at one point.**

**P.S: Okay, so Tune made an observation about the last scene that made me re-think it for a bit. I wanted to leave it like that, but it was either this and push this story to an M rating, or tone it down and keep it the T rating. I kind of went with the latter because I would feel kind of "meh" for pushing this story's rating just because of this chapter, so thanks for pointing that out, Tune! **


	10. There is no such thing as too original

**Thanks again for all the reviews! I can't say enough how much you guys are great! This chapter will have a lot less Robin in it, but it was necessary for what I wanted to do here.**

**Hope you enjoy it!**

* * *

"Alright ya pipsqueaks, time to recap the plan," King DeDeDe whispered to the two Smashers in front of him.

Ness rolled his eyes at the fat, oversized penguin, while Lucina just looked at the platform by her side, completely distracted. To say he felt insulted with such indiference and disdainfrom his subordinates would be an understatement. Here he was, trying to explain his master plan and guide them through today's battle to victory and all they did was treat him as if they didn't want to listen to him. Which was an absurd, because there were people out there who would kill to just have him give them a second of his time. Well, his servants acted like that, anyway.

And it was such a brilliant plan, the one he had!

"Your plan is stupid!" Ness complained, not even bothering with whispering, since the plan was, as he stated, stupid and there was no reason to hide it from the rival trio at the other side of the transporter room. "Seriously, you want Lucina and I to go hit Shulk, Marth and Little Mac and tank the entire battle, while you sit back and just keep throwing gordos at them?"

"Have y'forgotten how deadly they are? Do you know how much it hurts to have one lousy ball o' spikes hit ya in the nuts?" DeDeDe then grabbed his gigantic hammer and started spinning it. "Especially when they are thrown using this baby 'ere."

"But they are very easy to avoid and reflect," Lucina tried to object as well.

"Not if ya two keep distracting 'em."

"DeDeDe, you're big and fat, just go out in the front line and tank the battle for us."

Lucina just sighed and tried to look away from the arguing veterans. At the moment, all that she cared about was not to make a fool of herself in front of the Hero King. This would be the first battle she would have against him that wasn't training and, honestly, she didn't feel ready to face him. Not when she was still practicing her new moves. Lucina hoped he would at least be happy to see her trying to not steal his style and personality.

She got so lost in thought that she didn't realize that Ness was trying to call for her. "Lucina? Hey, Lucina," he said, nudging her arm. "We're about to go now. You ready?"

"O-Oh, absolutely," she forced a smile. "Let us do our best."

King DeDeDe scoffed, still completely sour over their refusal to carry on with his plan and turned his back to them, ready to step in the silvery platform on the floor. Lucina was about to follow him and step on the platform by his side when she felt a timid hand poking her back, making her turn around.

"What is it, Ness?" she asked.

"After this battle, can I talk to you?"

"Why not now?"

"Hey, ya two slugs, let's go already!"

"... Alright, we shall talk later."

The battle would take place in the Palutena's Temple stage, one of the very few that was large enough to accomodate six fighters in the same space and give them plenty of room to jump, kick and do whatever they wanted freely. In fact, it was just a little too large for some tastes. It had underground tunnels, a huge bridge, greek columns, a nice garden and all the good stuff a temple for a greek goddess would have. It was a wonderful and fun stage to fool around, but pretty much terrible for one-on-one combats and pretty much anything else.

Each Smasher spawned in a different part of the stage, Lucina being fortunate enough to appear next to the fountain, as it was on the upper level of the temple, meaning she wouldn't be forced to climb her way up. She was ready to take on anyone who got in her way...

On the other side of the bridge that was in front of her was Marth.

Well, anyone except for him!

Lucina gulped as she saw the Hero King swiftly running towards, his Falchion ready to strike. Now, in any other day, Lucina would just stay put and counter attack him when the time was ready, but it had been a while since she decided to get rid of her counter move. While it was one of her most effective moves, it was also the most shamelessly copied from Marth, as she couldn't quite remember knowing how to counter deadly attacks back in Ylisse.

She rolled to the side once he slashed his sword at her, the extremely sharp blade passing only inches from her nose. There was an opening right on his torso, now it was her chance to strike! Lucina spun around and lunged towards him, extending her right foot forward, but not enough for her to lose her balance, and thrusting the tip of her blade on his torso. A curse almost escaped from her mouth as the move wasn't as effective as she wanted. It didn't turn out awful, though, as Marth did stumble a couple of feet back from the attack.

"Uh?"

That was weird, Marth couldn't remember that technique from Lucina. He had been training with her for quite some time to know how her fighting style worked. That was to say, he knew himself well enough to know how she worked, since she basically had the same skills and style as him. He regained his posture and tried using Dancing Blade, unleashing a flurry os stabs on her, only for them to be blocked by the shield she activated. Marth then took advantage of that and grabbed her by her cape, kneeing her in the stomach two time before throwing her backwards.

He was kind of expecting her to use her counter move at any time, but that didn't seem to be the case for this battle.

The duel between the two royals went on for quite some time, as if the rest of the team didn't exist anymore (not that any of them showed up to reassure they were still there, all the other Smashers were fighting on a lower level). Marth soon found out that he wasn't imagining things, that Lucina's moves were completely different from what he saw during their training. The way she swung Falchion lacked grace, power and balance, completely unlike Lucina's technique. Sure, she now was a lot more unpredictable, but that wasn't saying a lot when even she didn't seem to know what she was doing.

Marth blocked whatever it was supposed to be that upper cut swing with of hers, still baffled she tried to attack him with the base of her sword, instead of thrusting the tip forward, and caused her to lose her balance and step back. It was time to finish her off with a Shield Breaker. He began foccusing on his attack, bringing Falchion close to his ear and ready to strike.

"GORDOOOOOO!"

As if answering an unspoken prayer, King DeDeDe fell from the sky and landed on the bridge behind him. Marth turned around in a startle, fast enough to spot the big penguim materializing a gordo out of thin air, but not to avoid said gordo was launched towards him. A sigh of relief escaped from Lucina as she saw her ancestor flying of from the stage due to the strong impact. She ran towards him and jumped in the air, slashing her sword at him to finish him off for good and help her team win the battle.

"Nice work, lass!" DeDeDe congratulated. "That's the last of 'em."

He was? Lucina hadn't realized. The stage started to dissolve and in two seconds she found herself standing in the familiar empty space that showed off winners and losers.

**The winner is... Blue Team!**

She did her obligatory winning pose, though not really paying any attention to what was happening. She just wanted to get Shulk and leave that stadium, preferably without having to talk to Marth. And for a moment she thought she would get what she wanted. When the group left the place and went to the exit of the stadium, Lucina managed to subtly pull Shulk to the side. "So, shall we go?" she asked, eagerly.

"Go to where... Oh, right! That weapon store. Sure, let's go before if gets dark."

"Lucina, wait!" Ness called out before she could leave with Shulk. "I still need to talk to you!"

She had completely forgotten about Ness.

"Lucina, I also want to talk to you," Marth said, approaching her at the same time. "Can you explain to me what was that performance of yours?"

"Hey, I asked to talk to her first! Get in line!"

"Can't all of this wait?" Lucina sighed. "I'm tired and there's still a place I need to go..."

"No, I have already been pushing this issue to the side for too long," Ness took a deep breath. "Lucina, I just want to say that I'm sorry for calling you a clone the other day."

"W-What?" she blinked a few times, trying to recall their conversation before.

"Yeah, I mean, I was trying to defend Lucas from being called a clone, but I just insulted you. So... Sorry about that, I didn't want to hurt your feelings. I know you're trying your best."

"Ness, you didn't insult me," Lucina smiled. "If anything, what you said had just served to open my eyes and make me want to change my moves so I can be more original."

"... What?"

Shulk just rubbed his arm and slowly stepped away from the group. He didn't need his powers to see that it would only go downhill from there, if Ness' and Marth's odd and unreadable expressions were to be taken into account. Without saying a word, the seer quietly walked to where DeDeDe and Little Mac chatted.

"W-What do you mean with be more original?" the young psychic cracked a nervous grin, switching glances between Lucina and Marth, who shot daggers with his eyes at him.

"Exactly what it sounds like. You said that Roy did not try hard enough as a Smasher because he was identical to Marth and implied he did poorly because of it," she went on, though not without noticing Ness' discomfort and Marth's silent judgemental stare. "So I have decided to change my fighting style to not fall into the same fate as him. In fact," she showed the piece of paper she had hidden under her sleeve. "I was even thinking about going to buy another weapon to use it as a projectile."

There was an awkward silence between the three fighters. Lucina didn't understand why she didn't receive immediate praise for deciding to change, while all Ness wanted to do was float away from that place before Marth decided to shove his Falchion up his ear. If he knew this would happen, he would have let the topic die.

"Lucina, what do you think you will accomplish with this?" Marth said, a lot more harshly than he intended.

"I don't understand."

"What do you think you will get with changing the way you fight like this? What are the benefits?"

"I thought I had made myself quite clear. I don't think it is fair for you that I try to mimick your fighting style, when I can come up with something completely of my own," the swordswoman frowned.

"Not fair to me?" Marth asked in surprise. "You seriously thought I was offended that you had a style identical to mine?"

"Of course."

"Lucina , that's not true!"

"You're much too kind, milord. But I still think it is not fair. You must have trained a lot to come up with the perfect fighting style, and it shows in the battlefield," Lucina's voice started to get shaky, something that did not go unnoticed by him. "A-And all I'm doing is copying you without giving a second thought. I should work like you and come up with something that is only mine."

Ness at that point had no words. How he wished he didn't open his mouth! He saw Shulk saying his goodbyes to King DeDeDe and Little Mac, neither Smashers interested in the commotion that unfolded between them. By the way Shulk look at their little group, it seemed like he already had an idea of the topic they wre discussing, but prefered to stay away for the moment.

"Lucina..." Marth put a hand on her shoulder, realizing she was shaking even more than he imagined. "Do you want to talk outside?" he glanced at Ness. "Alone?"

"I..." she sighed in defeat. "Yes."

Marth guided her to outside of the stadium, reassuring Ness and Shulk that they would be back shortly. "A good heart-to-heart is all she needs," Ness heard Shulk comment.

"You think so?"

"Of course! I used to do a lot of them with my friends back at home during my journey," he gave a bittersweet grin. "It usually solved a lot of unresolved feelings."

"Whatever, I just hope Marth comes back without the need to use me as a practice dummy for making Lucina feel bad."

Meanwhile, at the outside of the stadium, the noise of rush hour and the chilling breeze, combined with the smell of overworked car motors really were starting to make Lucina relax a little from her anxious state. Not because any of those things were soothing to her, but because it was the exact opposite of soothing and she was starting to pay more attention to how annoyed she was at the general atmosphere than at how nervous she was.

"Okay, so what is going on with you?" Marth asked, his tone of voice a lot softer. "What did Ness say, exactly?"

"Oh, please, don't take it out on Ness, he didn't insult me."

"Then what happened?"

"I just don't want people to think I'm not trying my best and that I'm a waste of opportunity. That I don't deserve to be in this tournament and that much better, original fighters should occupy my place," Lucina raised her hands in a gesture that said she wasn't finished. "And don't tell me people have no problems with clones, because we know it's not true. One talk with anyone that has been around the past tournaments would be enough to know what the general consesus was when it came to Smashers that had very similar fighting styles."

"Well, I'm not going to lie, what you said is true," Marth said.

"That is why..."

"Let me continue."

"O-Oh, alright..."

"I have been participating in the Super Smash Bros tournaments for a long time now and got to see a lot of what fans said about the Smashers, myself and Roy included. From Melee, to Brawl and to this recent tournament, there will always be a very vocal part of the fans that will jump at any opportunity to bash Smashers that they consider clones of older fighters."

Lucina could feel her heart sinking. Hearing all of that coming from Marth sounded a lot worse to her.

"But can I tell you something?"

"W-What?" she stuttered.

"We are all much less unique than we like to think we are."

"I... Don't understand."

"Lucina, we all are shaped through things and people that surround us. No one is one hundred percent original, because our personalities and manneirisms are pretty much influenced by everything that is part of our lifes, one way or another. Be it from the friends we make, or from the enemies we gain, none of our ideals came out of blue," Marth rested his hand on the hilt of his Falchion. "It may come to a surprise to you, but my moves were actually inspired by Roy."

"..."

"Surprised?"

"It is actually quite hard to believe, to be honest."

Marth let out a hearted laugh. "I know, nobody believes me when I say this. I think people just assumed he took his fighting style after mine because he was younger than me. But, the truth is, we came up with those moves together back in the Melee days. He would incorporate some of my moves, while I did the same with his," he explained, trying his best to not laugh at Lucina's dumbstruck face.

"So, not only am I copying you, but I'm also copying him as well?!"

"In a way, yes. But don't you see?" Marth smiled. "There is nothing wrong with you. Just take into account all the Smashers who took their techniques after the other. Mario and Luigi, Link and Toon Link, Fox and Falco, Pit and Dark Pit, even Captain Falcon and Ganondorf, believe it or not! And that's just naming a few."

"I see..."

"You also want to know something else?"

"What?"

"More than half of Ness' special PSI attacks aren't even his. He copied them from a girl named Paula, who used to travel with him back in his home world. Now tell me, do you think he should change just because of that?"

"Of course not!" she exclaimed. "Ness is an excellent fighter! What it matters is that he knows how to use those powers."

"So do you," he put a hand on her shoulder. "I'd rather see the confident Lucina that has the same technique as me and Roy, than have to fight against the Lucina who's trying so hard to be different, that she became lost in her own ideas."

Lucina crossed her arms and looked away, thinking about what she had just heard. It took her a couple of seconds to go back to looking Marth in the eye. "... What about the fans? Won't they hate me?" she finally asked.

"You're not going to please everyone, get this into your head already" the prince sighed. "You can be simply the best fighter in the tournament, yet there will always be some people who will find a reason to dislike you. This won't be something exclusive to you, everyone gets some sort of hate from someone, just like there will always be people out there who will love you."

Marth then gently lifted her chin up with his hand, his smile growing even bigger. "So chin up, will you? Don't waste your energy on people who will have no relevance in your life and won't help you on becoming a better person. Focus on those who will love you for who you are and show them what you came for. Master Hand didn't give you your own slot just because."

For a moment there was no response from Lucina and he sincerely feared that none of what he said was getting through her head. It didn't help that she was now looking at the ground, as if nothing made her fears dissipate. However, it wasn't so much as that she didn't take his words into consideration, as it was more of a case of extreme shyness and lack of right words to say.

"... Thank you, milord, really," she said quietly. "I promise I'll do my best. In my... Own terms, that are also yours."

"Glad to hear it. Also, you really don't need to call me that. Just call me Marth, there's no need for titles here."

"Right, mi- Marth," she surpressed a giggle. "Well, this certainly sounds odd."

"No, it really doesn't. Anyway, are you feeling better?"

"Yes."

"Good, then let's go back. I'm sure Ness and Shulk are wondering what is taking so long."

He could see her raising her hands, quickly bringing them closer to her chest. In a swift movement, she left in hurried steps towards the stadium, that shy smile still on her lips. That nagging sentiment of inadequecy and self-doubt was still there, yes, but hearing those things from Marth brought her a certain comfort, nonetheless. Just enough for her to drop the idea of changing her fighting style out of fear of rejection.

She still thought using a spear was a good idea.

Maybe on the next tournament.

* * *

For the first time in days Robin actually woke up feeling well rested. As in, she actually managed to get eight hours of sleep (even more so) without suffering any nightmares or waking up in the middle of the night just because. She could not stress enough how annoying it was to wake up in the middle of the night from a dreadful feeling of anxiety, as if there was something she should be doing at the moment.

She looked at the clock on the bed desk at her left and saw that it was 9 AM. That certainly did wonders to her mood.

Robin let out a content sigh and lazily opened her eyes, a smile forming on her lips as she felt Rob's embrace on her waist tighten. Her smile faltered, however, as the embrace kept getting tighter and tighter, until she was starting to run out of air. He suddenly had his nails dug on her stomach and started breathing quite heavily on the back of her neck.

"R-Rob? Hey, wake up," she turned around with much effort in order to face him and struggled to break free. "You're having a nightmare. At least, I think you are. Wake up!"

"Ugh, Robin..." he woke up and let go of her immediately. "T-Thanks for waking me up."

"I had to. You were crushing my bones!"

"I was?!" his eyes widened and quickly let go of her waist. "Gods, Robin, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to!"

"It wasn't your fault, relax," Robin said and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "Ready for today's battle?"

"No, not really," Rob groaned.

"Heh, me neither," she sat up and stretched her back. "Now get up and go get yourself ready. If we hurry, we might get a semi-decent breakfast."

"..."

"What?"

"I was going to try to convince you to stay in bed a little longer, but I can't think of anything to say with an empty stomach," he said, sheepishly.

"Yeah, maybe later," she smiled. "It's 9 AM, we really should be getting ready."

Rob sat up and watched while Robin grabbed her clothes and towel and went to the bathroom to take the shower she was supposed to take last night. "Oh, and Rob?" he heard her say, her hand gripping the doorknob.

"Yeah?"

"Don't you dare go easy on me in today's battle."

"Why do you think I would go easy on you?"

"Because I know you," she smirked. "You already go easy on Lucina, don't think that we don't notice. If you hold back today, I swear I'll punch you later."

"Don't worry, I won't," he retributed with another smirk. "I only go easy on ladies."

"Go fuck yourself."

"Okay, then, come here!" he gleefully tapped the spot by his side.

Rob winced as she slammed the door, her face as red as a tomato and that toothy grin that kept growing never leaving his face.

Messing with her sure was fun.

* * *

**Let's face it, you all saw this joke coming from miles away. I'm not even sorry. **

**Lucina totally wanted to hug Marth, and I kind of wanted her to do this, but Lucina's not really that touchy-feely with anyone that isn't Chrom or her mother (at least, that's the impression I got from the game), so I just made her stop on her tracks and feel prety awkward. I'm sure Marth wouldn't mind a hug, though.**

**Some of the pairings you guys said are actually pretty interesting! Some were pretty normal (for this fandom, anyway) and some were weird, but it was still interesting hearing what you guys had to say about shipping. So I'm gonna add my two cents and say that my biggest guilty pleasure pairings, aside from Robin/Robin, are Pit/Pokémon Trainer and Lucina/Peach. There, I said it. Sue me.**

**To the anon, I was just joking. Besides, I like the idea of a mute Link. No, really, I do! I just love it when fics incorporate this headcanon, and Hyrule Warriors even did that by giving him a fairy to translate what he wanted to say! **


	11. The need to let go of the past

**This chapter took less time to finish than I thought. Ha ha, I still need to study more...**

* * *

By the time Robin and Rob sat down on the table to eat their breakfast, Shulk had already finished his meal. He decided to stay because, well, it wasn't as if he had anything else to do and he was still worried about Robin. Though, he wasn't really worried at the moment, as it was more curious as to why her mood seemed to make a 180 angle turn.

"You seem in a good mood today," he commented, resting his chin on his hand. "Both of you."

"We do? Haven't noticed," Robin said, that strange smile not leaving her face, not even as she munched on the cold, last muffin that was left on the back of the tray when she was going to get her food. "Guess I really needed a good night of sleep."

Shulk was really suspicious of the way Rob looked at her, to say the least. It was all the more reason for him to ask for them to spill the beans about what was going on between them. However, that really didn't seem the time to start asking questions, especially with Lucina arriving shortly afterwards with only an apple in one hand and a cup of tea on the other.

"Morning, Lucina," Robin said. "Are you sure you're not going to get hungry with only an apple?"

"I'm not that hungry. Just an apple will suffice," Lucina took a bite of the fruit, her face also showing that she appeared to be in a rather good mood.

"Did you buy that spear, by the way?" Rob asked.

"No, in the end, I think I'll stay with my usual fighting style," she smiled. "You were right, Rob, maybe trying too hard to stand out wouldn't do me any favors, especially considering I was doing so well with what I already had."

"Oh, um, I'm glad to hear that," Rob couldn't hide the surprise in his voice. "What made you suddenly change your mind?"

"It's a long story."

"What's going on? What did I miss?" Robin asked.

"Like I said, it's a long story," Lucina took another bite, still not making eye contact with her. "But let's just say that I was about to commit one of the biggest mistakes ever."

"Uh, if you say so."

Robin had to hide the pout that wanted to form on her lips. Lucina almost never spoke more than three sentences with her, always preferring to hang out only with Rob instead. Sometimes it could be really difficult trying to get closer to her and she didn't know if it was just her impression, or if Lucina really had a problem with her, but she wished she knew how to have a decent conversation with her regardless.

Speaking of decent conversations, Shulk was awfully quiet. And while she could see he did his best to disguise it, he kept casting weird glances at both her and Rob, but mostly at Rob.

Uh.

Excuses, excuses, she needed one to...

"Robin, I need to talk to you alone," Shulk said, bluntly. "There's something I need to ask you."

Or not. Okay, so no excuses, then. It saved her from a headache of finding an excuse to get the two of them alone, just a headache to reassure Rob later that she and Shulk were just friends. She could feel his worried glare burning into the core of her soul from where she sat.

"Fine," she got up.

Rob watched them leave the table, not sure if it was his imagination or not that Robin seemed to walk just a little too close to him. No, it was just his imagination. He trusted Robin when she said nothing was happening between them. Who knows? Maybe Shulk just needed her opinion on what he should do on the next battle or suggestions on how to court Ike, because hey, maybe he was into men. He always had his suspicions of him.

"Do you think Shulk and the other Robin are dating?"

Dammit, Lucina!

"No."

"Alright, maybe not dating, but they do seem to share a special bond," Lucina said, completely oblivious to how dry that "no" came out. "They are usually together and I could swear I saw him inviting her over to his room once," Rob cringed, yet no attention was paid to him. "I wouldn't be surprised if they came back announcing they were a couple from now on."

It was because he was starting to feel insecure about her relationship with Shulk, wasn't it? Lucina was secretly punishing him for not trusting Robin, that had to be it.

"Well, I don't think so," he replied in a more apparent irritation.

"Why are you so angry? I'm just stating what I think."

Did he really have to say it to her?

"You see, Lucina, the thing is..."

* * *

"You two kissed?!"

Robin happily nodded, grinning from ear to ear like an overly excited child. She would not say the exact details of what went on, for obvious reasons that Shulk didn't need to hear details, but the sheer happiness that she felt at the moment was too much for her not to tell him.

Though, she did not expect him for him to shout like that. She would appreciate if he toned down his voice, since they were still pretty near the cafeteria and people kept walking past them back and forth and all he did was attract unnecessary attention to them.

"And it was all so sudden!" Robin continued. "Can you believe it was Rob who actually took the initiative at first?"

"Actually, it's not that hard to believe."

"So, yeah, I'm really happy," she then let out a groan. "Though it won't null out today's battle."

"Just... Keep what you were doing yesterday and you'll be fine."

"I'm not worried about losing. Well, okay, maybe a little, but I still don't like fighting him, especially in a moment like this."

"But you have to do it, so at least try your best," there was a certain bitterness in his voice that Robin couldn't help but notice it. "I'm sure that your relationship with Rob can wait until you are done deciding who will be the default. You are both grown ups, you can take a few hits."

That came out as unnecessarily cruel. Shulk almost regretted his words immediately. "Almost" being the key word.

"What bug bit you today?" Robin asked, raising an eyebrow at him.

"I'm not in my best mood, I'm sorry," Shulk groaned and shook his head. "Listen, tell Rob I wish you both the best of luck today. I think I'll rest for a while."

"You just woke up."

_After hearing these news I wish I didn't, _Shulk just sighed. "I went to sleep late last night," he said, instead. He wasn't lying, he really did go sleep late and did feel pretty tired. Robin's announcement just made his already existent headache from the lack of sleep grow. "I think I'll take the opportunity that I don't have any battles today and sleep more."

"Are you sure you are okay?"

"I am."

"...Stop lying to me," Robin frowned, her lips firmly pressed against each other. "You always say that you're fine, when it's clear you're not! Would it hurt you to tell me what you're feeling at least once in your life?"

_I don't know what's wrong with me, just leave me alone. _"I just need to rest, nothing else."

"Come on, Shulk, I tell you everything about me, but you never tell me anything about yourself. And don't get me wrong, it's nice to have someone that listens to all your problems, but it can be pretty frustrating when you can't return the favor!"

"Then don't return the favor, I'm not charging you for the time I spent listening to you."

"Oh, I'm so relieved right now! I thought I would have to pay in return, plus interest," Robin snarked. "Why is it so hard for you to open up to me?!"

"There is no reason for me to open up with you, because there's nothing wrong. I just need to rest."

Shulk just walked past by her and waved his hand. He seriously was not in the mood to talk to Robin at all, yet he also didn't want to go back to his room, even if he was still pretty tired. Still, it was one of his few precious off days where he was completely free to do anything, so he would just waste it in bed. He still had the afternoon to train or do another thing.

On his way back all he could keep thinking was about how mad he got over the fact that Robin was apparently dating Rob. From what she said between her squeals, that is, he never expected to see her acting like an overexcited preteen. Not that was bad, quite the contrary! Shulk couldn't remember seeing her this happy in a long time, so seeing her like that should have made him happy as well. But why did his chest hurt so much?

He reached the elevators, still trying to figure it out what was wrong with him. Robin was happy, therefore he should be for her, right? However, that clearly wasn't the case, as he was feeling extremely annoyed. So what was going on?

Was he feeling jealous of Robin? No, that wasn't it. He was absolutely positive about his feelings towards her, Shulk couldn't see her as anything but as a best friend. Robin was a lot more like a sister to him than anything. Unless he thought their kind of relationship was threatened now that she was dating, but that couldn't be the case also.

Was he feeling jealous of Rob?

...

Possibly, but not likely. Sure, he caught himself fantasizing about him once, maybe even twice, but Shulk was not nearly as close to him as he was with Robin. Rob was a very attractive man and he was also pretty nice, but there was nothing more between the two of them that would serve as fuel for Shulk's supposedly jealousy. Besides, there was still Fiora, whose gentle smile and free-spirited attitude were capable of letting Shulk's every other romantic interests on the dust.

No, it wasn't jealousy. It was a pretty similar sentiment.

Shulk sluggishly walked through the extensive corridor, passing by Miis and Smashers alike without bothering on trying to greet them, because nobody deserved to see the abomination that he called his sleep deprived face. After some effort, he reached his bedroom and swapped his key card on the lock, a sigh of relief escaping from his lips as he heard the sound of the door unlocking and the warmth of his room relaxing his muscles. It was only when he belly-flopped on his bed and buried his face on his pillow that he realized what was wrong.

He was envious of Robin. He envied just how happy she was at the moment and how she managed to be with who she really loved. She got her feeling corresponded and was now together with Rob, while he stood there, feeling miserable and trying to hold on to a past and memories that didn't belong to him. As sad as the truth was, Shulk still couldn't let go of Fiora, he still couldn't get over her and how he would never be able to see her. Not only her, but all of his friends back in the Bionis.

The fact that he had projections of Dunban and Riki as part of his Final Smash just added salt to the wound.

Maybe that was why he listened to Robin's complaints this entire time. Maybe he did get some sort of selfish satisfaction knowing that he wasn't alone in not being able to be with the person he loved. Sure, there were probably a lot of Smashers out there who felt the same, but Robin was the closest to him and the one who brought him more comfort.

He pressed his face against the pillow harder, just now realizing how stupid and pathetic he felt for that.

Envy of Robin, what a joke.

* * *

"For today's battle you two shall use only your swords as your weapons and tomes will be strictly forbidden," Master Hand announced.

Rob groaned in frustration while Robin just shrugged her shoulders, since she was a lot more comfortable with close combat. She had to admit that the thought of not being able to use Elwind to recover did worry her a bit, though. "Master Hand, mind if I ask where this battle will take place?" she asked, hoping the stage wasn't one of those ridiculously spacious ones, like 75 m or Gaur Plains.

"It will be on Boxing Ring, the normal version."

No need for recovery then. Fine, Robin could do it. She COULD do it, of course. She glanced over Rob, practically hearing him scream mentally for not being able to use the weapons he was more specialized.

She had the upper hand here. She could do it.

"You will each have two lives and there will be a time set of five minutes. Whoever loses all lives, or has the least amount of lives when the time runs out, loses. Do I make myself clear or you still have any questions before you start?"

Robin was going to ask if she could be excused for the rest of her life, but it was better to not annoy him. And with that affirmative silence of theirs, Master Hand snapped his fingers and they were teleported.

* * *

The crowd went wild with the fight that unfolded just a few meters ahead of them at the boxing ring, as it was programmed to do so. Being just a projection that was part of the stage, the crowd was animated to cheer for the smashers that kept duking it out at each other, independently of how exciting the battle was.

That was to say, the fight between the Robins was quite terrible, but at least someone was enjoying the terrible performance. Even that someone was dozens of holographic people.

"Well... Things could be worse."

Robin jumped out of the way when she saw Rob swinging his Bronze sword mid-air, trying to slash her in the head.

"Worse? Are you kidding me?" Rob whispered as he landed on the ground. "This fight is ridiculous!"

She just swallowed dry and tried swinging her Levin sword downwards, hoping the sparks of electricity would hit him, since thrusting her blade forward would be too predictable. Unfortunately (or not, she didn't know what to feel) he stepped out of the way and avoided getting attacked. Rob ran forward and grabbed her by the collar, since he couldn't use his magic to trap her, clearly annoyed about her performance.

"Funny how you said you didn't want me going easy on you, and then you do the exact same thing to me," he whispered in her ear. "Get it together and fight!"

"Ugh, like you're being any good either..." Robin grunted with clenched teeth.

"Better than you," he threw her on the ground and brought the Levin sword downwards. "And that's the problem."

Robin rolled out of the way, but couldn't avoid the sparks of electricity that the blade created and fell with on her face. "You're way better than me," he hesitated for a moment, before slashing the bronze sword downwards. That moment of hesitation was enough for Robin to roll away from the attack and get back on her feet. "You know I'm not a big fan of close combat."

"You know, it's not always I get to hear you admitting this kind of stuff," Robin grinned and began charging the Levin sword, waiting for the right moment.

She slashed the blade forward, making direct contact with his stomach. In any other battle, Robin would have expected that move to fail and her opponent to just jump back, since she did make a predictable movement, easy to avoid, but Rob kind of just stood there and took the hit. Of course he would. She would technically complain about him not giving his best because of her, but...

What was up with that scream of his?

The tactician frowned at the scream Rob let out as he was sent flying off the stage. Was it her or did his voice lower a few pitches? Nah, it was probably her imagination.

Lucina simply watched the fight unfold from the bleachers, her mind completely distracted and with Master Hand floating idly by her side. As much as she tried, she couldn't focus on the Robins' fight at all. And she wanted to, she really did. Anything to distract her from the memory of what Robin had told her that morning.

It was just... Lucina couldn't stop her face from blushing. She also couldn't stop her nervous fingers from combing the strands of her long blue hair as she couldn't hold her thoughts. It was a good thing that Master Hand wasn't paying any attention to her, or he might confuse her for a maxim tomato. She sighed inwardly as she saw the other Robin taking out her male counterpart's life, making her the winner of today's battle.

Robin just wasn't giving his best, that was very apparent. Not that Master Hand seemed to care that much, as far as the swordswoman could tell from the lack of an angry response at his performance.

Nonetheless, she needed to find a way to talk to Robin alone.

Maybe when her heart stopped pounding so fast she could get to talk to Robin. Yes, that was a plan.

* * *

"Shulk, are you alright?"

Shulk turned around and saw Whitney looking at him with concerned eyes, a towel around her shoulders and a bottle of water on her sweaty hand. "Uh, yes. Yes, I am," he answered, wondering how long has the trainer been there and withdrawing his Monado. "Why do you ask?"

"Because I don't believe Sandbag can take your anger outbursts anymore_._"

The Homs stopped to take a good look at Sandbag and almost felt bad for the poor thing, only to remember those large, teary black eyes the bag had were his default expression and the mere thought of feeling bad for a sandbag was kind of dumb.

"These things are tough, I'd never be able to destroy it, even using my Buster Arts," he muttered. "What are you doing here?"

"I practically live in this gym," she let out chuckle. "I was helping out one of the Villager girls with some yoga exercises on the other room, when I left to get a bottle of water."

"I see."

"Anyway, you seem stressed. Do you need something to calm down or are you good?"

"I'm good, no need to worry. I'll just keep punching sandbag until I calm down entirely."

"Um, Shulk, if you are angry, it's really not the best idea to lash it out on the sandbag," the trainer suggested. "You won't feel any better, you will only feel more worked up. Negative emotions are kind of an addictive thing, you know?"

"Wait, really?"

"Really. Anyway, I'll be at the other room with Villager, if you want to join us, you are more than welcome," Whitney gave him a thumbs up and turned around to leave.

"Whitney, can I ask you something?"

"Yes?" she turned around.

"You talked about how negative emotions can be pretty addicting to someone's brain. Does that count to memories too?"

"I think they are? If they bring a very strong emotional response, it's possible to become attached to them."

"Even when they bring a negative emotional response?"

"Well, yeah, but if they are doing more harm than good to your spirits, maybe you should not get so attached to them," Whitney tilted her head to the side. "Why do you ask, Shulk?"

"Problems with the memories of my past."

"Yeah, we all got those every once in a while," she gave a sympathetic smile.

_If by "every once in a while" you mean "every time", yes. I really should start letting go of them, _Shulk bitterly thought.

He got angry at Robin for her finally gaining up the courage to confess to Rob because he was envious of her happiness and lashed all his anger on Sandbag. If that didn't say something about the way he was dealing with his situation, then he didn't know what else would.

"Who doesn't?" he gave a fake smile.

"There's no problem in feeling sad over them every once in a while, but don't let them take over you like this. Shulk, your life is here and this is your world, whoever was causing you your emotional turmoils cannot get you here."

_That's exactly the problem._

"So go and find your own happiness with what you got here!" she gave him a strong slap on his back, earning a yelp of surprise from him. "Did I help?"

"Sorta," he tried to regain his balance and his fake smile unintentionally turned into a genuine one. "Thanks, I guess."

"I know exactly where you can start," Whitney grabbed his arm and dragged him outside the training room. "I'm sure some yoga exercises will cleanse your spirits from all this negativity. Now let's move, Villager has been waiting for too long!"

Shulk tried to break free from her strong grasp, but utterly failed. For someone with not many apparent muscles, Whitney sure was a strong woman.

* * *

**Remember before when Shulk just mentioned that Robin should just admit her feelings because she might implode from bottling them up? Yeah.**

**I'm still not getting rid of Lucina, for better or worse. I just like writing about her way too much, I'm surprised I haven't written a story with her as a main character. I'm not entirely satisfied with this chapter and had a few author blocks when writing it, but at least it's out.**

**And answering anon's question, Marth copying some of Roy's moves was something I just made up, but Ness copying Paula's ****abilities**** is actually true. In Earthbound he can't use PK Fire, PK Thunder and PSI Magnet, they are all moves from his friends. Even his Final Smash is a rip-off from his friend Poo's signature move, PK Starstorm. Now who isn't trying hard enough, uh Ness?**

**Thanks everyone for reading it!**


	12. There is nothing wrong

**Sorry for making you wait! Stuff happens, tests are around the corner and I can't stop playing Fire Emblem and Kingdom Hearts. It happens.**

* * *

"Okay, so I was thinking," Rob commented, his chin rested at the top of Robin's head and hugging her waist from behind.

"Yes?"

"How about you win tomorrow's fight and we can get this stupid competition over sooner?"

Robin got off from her position, turned around and glared at Rob with harsh brown eyes. The springs of her bed squeaked slightly from her shift of position and there was the faint sound of the movie that the TV screen they had been watching, but there was nothing that could break the sudden tension between them. "No! What the hell Rob!" she exclaimed, her sudden outburst not surprising him in the slightest. "You can't just give me the position of default like this. Where's your dignity?"

"In the boxing ring," he frowned. "Why are you so angry? I'm offering to lose so you can become the official Robin. This is the best outcome for you."

"Because it's not fair for both of us! Think about from my perspective. If I offered to lose so you could become the default, would you feel good about yourself for winning like this? Even if it's a competition you didn't want to be a part of? I don't want you pitying me."

"It's not out of pity..."

"Maybe it isn't, but I know that you also don't like the idea of being considered just a shadow of mine," Robin firmly pressed her hand on his bare shoulder. "Tell you what! How about you win tomorrow and we finish this off with a real battle on Friday?"

"How is that any different from me letting you win tomorrow?!"

"Because if you win tomorrow, we will be even. And then we can decide for real who will be the default on the last battle. Besides, you already kind of gave me today's victory, so let me repay you by doing the same tomorrow."

Rob wanted to argue back, but he did sort of give up on today's battle and let her win and there was no way of denying it, because it wasn't like Robin was trying hard to win either. In the end, they were engaged on a tough competition of who could try to win less. "Alright, fine, we'll have a real battle if that makes you happy."

"It doesn't," she gave him a peck on the lips. "But it's better than just giving me the winner title. We already screwed up the last three battles, let's do the last one right, at least."

"Just don't come crying when I destroy you."

"Keep dreaming, it won't cost you anything."

Rob brought his lips on to hers one more time, slowly and slightly parting them and enjoying the other's taste. One would think that they sorted out their feelings they would have calmed down, but all it did was make him desire Robin even more. And by the way she pushed him down in-between kisses until she was laying on top of him, he could safely assume it was mutual.

Time seemed to stop as they went on. Rob was becoming more and more excited with every kiss planted on his thin lips and neck, every nibbling on his clear skin and every stroke on his hair.

He gasped in surprise at the sudden sharp pain on his neck.

"Robin, what the..." he couldn't even finish his sentence as he felt her soft hand making its way under his shirt.

"Revenge for the hickey from yesterday," she whispered in his ear with a satisfied grin.

Oh, right. He did leave a hickey on her collarbone yesterday, didn't he? And maybe even on other places, he couldn't remember that well. Sure, Robin got mad at that moment, but it was so worth it.

Rob let out a grunt as she went back to assaulting his neck, cursing mentally for having the same sensitive spots as her and for Robin having full knowledge of that. To make things worse (or better) she kept giving those small, gentle bites on his neck and how her hands kept circling his chest and stomach.

Oh, Naga...

"Enjoying yourself there?" Robin giggled, casting awkward glances at him.

"Ahem, yes... Well..." he didn't know where to hide his face. "I'm a guy, it happens."

"Ha ha ha," she was practically trembling from her laughter. "I'm so, so sorry..." she buried her face on the crook of his neck, her short and shaky breathing tingling his skin.

It was just so funny, that whole situation, that Robin couldn't help herself. The mere thought of them going from friends, who were forced to share a room, to dubious, not-exactly-stated lovers in the span of less than a week was still something she didn't get used to. It wouldn't be so funny if it wasn't for the fact that Rob technically was her, but here they were, and Robin didn't know if she should laugh or cry at how ridiculous, yet amazing, that situation was.

"No, you're not."

Of all the people they could have fallen in love, they just had to fall for each other.

"You're right, I'm really not."

They were already here, weren't they? Might as well go with the flow.

She gave a chaste kiss on his neck before moving to his lips again. Rob closed his eyes once more and tried to enjoy it, however, a sudden, pulsating headache made him yelp and paralyze instantly, making Robin back off from him immediately. "Rob? What's wrong?" he heard her ask in concern. He couldn't even answer it, all he could do was put his hands on his temples and not collapse from the gradual pain as he writhed into fetal position.

Gods, it felt like his brain was going to explode!

"H-Hey, hey! What's going on with you?" Robin tried to call out for him, only to realize it was useless. "That's it, I'm calling for help!"

She immediately got up and went to reach for her phone on the pocket of her coat that hung on the only available chair. Whatever was happening to him, she sure didn't know what to do.

"N-No need to..." Rob grunted, his voice more like a whisper. "I-I'm getting b-better..."

"Of course you are," she said deadpan without taking her eyes off from her phone's screen.

"No, I'm serious! I'm getting better," he slowly and carefully took his hand off from his head, breathing heavily from the growing relief of the pain dissipating. "See?"

"No, not really," Robin hesitantly lowered her phone and sat by his side, placing a hand on his sweaty forehead gently. "What the hell was that?"

"I don't know," he confessed. "My head started to hurt out of nowhere, but the pain went away as fast as it came. Trust me, I'm feeling a lot better now!"

"How weird..."

"Very weird," Rob caught her hand on his own and took it away from his forehead. "I'm fine now, don't worry."

Robin eyed him with suspicion, yet said nothing, preferring to trust him in his claim of being fine. If something like that were to happen again, she would definitely call for emergency. For now, she just kissed his forehead and decided to lie down on the bed, still shaken from Rob's sudden violent headache. The girl let out a sigh as she felt him shifting to her side and hugging her by the waist.

Way to lose the mood.

"I'm fine," he whispered, earning just a nod from her.

If Rob was to be sincere, he whispered that more to himself than to reassure Robin he was fine. Except he wasn't. Rob didn't know if it was a momentary hallucination from the headache, but he still couldn't ignore that chilling voice that haunted his mind during his agony.

_Heed my call._

Gods, no! Not again! He already had to go through that once, he didn't want to go through it again.

* * *

When all was said and done, the fourth battle went as the Robins had planned. It really helped a lot that Master Hand decided to make them fight only using their tomes, so Rob had the perfect excuse of being more skilled with magic, since that technically was true. A few charged Thorons, a few "missed steps" from Robin's part, and the battle was over before they could even have time to become bothered (again) by that stupid competition.

"Tomorrow the winner will be decided," Master Hand announced once they were back at his office and he finished congratulating Rob. From his tone of voice, he didn't seem all that thrilled, making them wonder just how much their boss suspected of them not giving a shit. "As such, I hope you come well prepared."

Maybe he didn't.

"And try to come just a little more motivated, yes? I don't know what is going on between you, but I suggest that you set your feelings aside for five minutes tomorrow so you can fight properly."

Never mind, then.

"We've had some complications..." Robin tried to explain it, but found herself unable to speak the rest of the sentence.

"I can see that."

There was absolutely no way either of them would tell Master Hand that they were dating. It was common knowledge between the Smashers that Master Hand didn't like the idea of the fighters dating others. And by "didn't like", it usually meant "completely despised it". Anything that he considered that could jeopardize their performance was strictly frowned upon by him. That wasn't to say that getting romantically involved with another person was against the rules... Nowadays, that is. Since up until the beginning of the Brawl era, romance between Smashers was completely prohibited, but the ban was lifted once he realized that fighting against it was pretty much useless and that no matter what punishment and temporary bans he could come up with there would still be some Smashers who would still get together regardless.

Nowadays he stopped wasting too much energy in witch hunting relationships and went on with business as usual. He just didn't want to know what was going on between the Smashers, a case of "don't ask, don't tell" of sorts. If he could ruin a relationship for the sake of the tournament, he would do it and gladly, though. So even with him being more relaxed regarding the issue of romance, the hand still was not very fond of the idea.

Not to mention he did make Rob and Robin share a room due to his assumption that it was impossible for them to fall in love with each other, so maybe it would be wiser to make him still believe that.

"By the way, where is our final battle going to take place?" Rob asked.

"Since it is your final battle, I thought that Final Destination would be the most fitting choice," Master Hand explained, his voice as calm as ever. "The items will be completely turned off, as usual."

"Final Destination and no items, uh..."

Robin's thoughts were interrupted by Fox suddenly walking in.

"Master Hand," the space pilot said, his face showing agitation. "Kirby tried to invade the kitchen and accidentally set it on fire again!"

"How is that even possible?" their boss let out a sigh.

"I don't know, I wasn't there. The staff is already taking care of it."

"I'll take care of Kirby, then," the hand floated towards Fox. He then turned around and pointed his index finger at both Robins. "Tomorrow I expect nothing but the best performance, you hear me? Don't forget the reason why I'm making you two fight."

And with that he left his office with Fox, leaving the two very awkward Robins behind.

Rob bit his lower lip and followed Robin to the elevator quietly, his mind still occupied by last night's headache and the sound of that voice so familiar to him replaying again and again in his brain, not giving him rest.

_Heed my call._

Rob unconsciously passed his fingers through the back of his marked hand. There was a knot in his stomach as the memories from his other life started to creep up in the back of his mind. Why, oh why, did he let Chrom take the final blow against Grima? Why couldn't he just finish the fell dragon off and sacrifice himself?

Well, he didn't want to die, that was something he was sure of. And he did make a promise that he would not kill himself, didn't he? He promised Chrom he wouldn't. He promised him he would not feel guilty for not sacrificing himself to stop Grima for good, since ending his life would kill the fell dragon too. Instead, he let Chrom stab the dark god and put him to sleep for another thousand years.

It sure hasn't passed a thousand years, but that was not relevant at the moment. Rob used to wake up in the middle of the night, he was sure Grima probably woke up in the middle of his one thousand year slumber.

Fuck, how was he going to tell Robin that Grima was trying to reach out for him again? How would he...

"You're really quiet today," Robin commented once they both entered the elevator.

"I... I am not well this morning. My head is still pounding," he confessed, pressing the button of the ground floor.

"Do you want to go see Dr. Mario? I'm sure he might have some painkillers for that."

"Yeah, I guess I'll do that later."

If only those painkillers could kill his real pain, Rob would probably consume all of them and overdose himself. Hey, anything to kill Grima.

However, now that he stopped to think really hard about it, was it even possible for Grima to get him there? Why would he even bother with him, if that was possible? Rob was just a simple clone of the Robin that resided in Ylisse, living in a completely different reality. If Grima was in search of his vessel, then he surely would like to go after the one that was more accessible, right? And more powerful too? Not some watered down Robin who was only strong enough for fighting to entertain a few million people?

Maybe his mind was playing tricks on him! He just had this nasty headache that triggered some distant memory of Grima and he was starting to get things confused. It was a possibility and a really good one!

Robin rested her head on his shoulder, taking in the silence that suddenly took over them and the only sound was the elevator slowly going downwards. She immediately straightened herself up when the elevator stopped on the second floor and the doors slid open, both her and Rob acting as casual and distant from each other as possible as they saw Lucario entering and being followed by both Pikachu and Jigglypuff.

"_Good afternoon,_" Lucario's voice echoed in their minds.

"('Sup?)" Pikachu said, even though he knew none of the humans would understand him.

Jigglypuff didn't even bother in greeting them and glued her eyes on the little screen that showed the number of the floor they were in. Rob mumbled a 'hey', not even sure if they heard him say it, while Robin was a lot more delicate and greeted the Pokemon back.

Gods, why was Lucario casting weird glances at them? Seriously, talk about rude. What did they ever do to him?

The elevator reached the ground floor and they all left without exchanging a word. Rob really was getting worried about why Lucario seemed so tense around them sometimes. Be it in battles or crossing each other every now and then when walking through the hotel, he often would glare at Rob (and Robin, whenever she was close too) as if there was a weird bug on his face.

Apparently, he was the only one who noticed it, because Robin sure didn't seem to mind it that much.

"Rob, you want to go to the mall with me this time?" she asked.

"Oh, um," he glanced at Lucario, who had already took his leave, before turning his attention to her again. "Sure, let's go."

Lucario watched the two tacticians leave the grand lobby from the glass doors that would take him to the patio, his uneasiness still apparent on his face. If only he could get to talk to the male one alone and get his consent to check his aura, he could confirm his suspicions. He could...

"(Lucario? Are you gonna stand there or are you going to come with us?)" Pikachu asked from the other side.

"_Right... Of course,_" he mumbled and decided to follow the small mouse. "_Right behind you._"

Something wasn't right with Robin. What was it thought, Lucario couldn't tell. Whatever the case might be, he would get to the bottom of the situation.

* * *

**I just love throwing Lucario in my stories to make him some sort of "shit is about to happen" detector. But really, I like reading and writing about him. We need more Lucario fics. He's not going to be a major character though.**

**Anyway, I'm sorry my updates haven't been consistent and for this chapter being even shorter. The worst part is that I've been having a lot of ideas for one-shots and short stories, but I can't get to write them because I still got this one and Gemini (I'm so sorry to anyone who is still reading for not updating it in forever). And I have to study and ugh... Again, I'm really sorry. I promise next chapter will be a lot longer to compensate.**

**And now for this chapter's question, because I haven't done one of these in some time:** **"when writing a Super Smash Bros fic, do you usually have a tendency of making your mains the main characters, or are you not interested in writing about your mains at all?" **

**My mains are actually Yoshi and Pit. I barely write about them, these poor souls. Meanwhile, I just love to write about Robin and Lucina, and I suck at using both of them.**


	13. The ramblings of a drunk princess

**Just a quick announcement: I have "recently" written a Fire Emblem Robin/Robin fic called "The Avatar Logbook". If you guys like this story and/or this pairing, then I suggest you read it, though it's not going to be nearly as long, since it's going to have two chapters.**

* * *

Lucina let out a sigh as she turned the screen of her phone off. Sure, she was still trying to get used to this strange technology, but she would put up with anything if that meant getting her message sent to Robin without having to look at the tactician in the eye. She had to calm down her trembling hands.

"Lucina? Hello," greeted a high pitched voice behind her. "What are you even doing here?"

She twisted her waist, without bothering on getting up from her armchair, only to find Princess Peach giving her an amused smile. Lucina couldn't blame her for finding the sight of her at the bar amusing, considering how unusual it was for her to even be there in the first place. It would be more unusual if she decided to come at night, where it got more crowded. Or when there was a decent weather that would not make entire place feel like gray, cold, desolated area. There were some Smashers talking and drinking here and there, but nothing that said "fun environment". It also didn't help that it was Thursday and that open bar got full mostly on Fridays.

"I should be the one asking. What are you doing here, Peach?"

"I need a drink," she said it as bluntly as she could. "I just came back from fighting Rosalina and I'm still bummed out that her Luma killed me at the last second through edge guard. Rosalina is a monster!"

"Oh, that's rough."

"Tell me about it," she bit her thumbnail that was covered by her fancy white glove. "Ugh, the frustration! Anyway, you want to join me?"

Peach was an odd friend, indeed. The first impression Lucina got from her when they first met was that of a quiet, demure princess who always minded her speech. Had it not for Peach insisting in befriending her, that impression would have lasted, however, the more they got used to each other, the more the princess' true colors showed. In reality, Peach was a loud, carefree young woman who always spoke her mind and had a constant habit of being somehow flirty, which was the complete opposite of how she acted around people less intimate with her. There were glimpses of this personality of hers in the battlefield, but that was usually interpreted by many Smashers as her just trying to annoy the opponent. The real Peach surely was not someone who danced around and lifted her skirt this casually when around other people.

Turns out she really was carefree and flirty. That was not an acting.

Somehow Peach just clicked with Lucina and the Ylissean princess still wondered why until this day. Maybe it was because Peach helped her get out of her shell more (or at least she tried), or was it because she was very trustworthy, nonetheless Lucina found her company enjoyable. So much in fact that she actually accepted her invitation. She didn't have anywhere to be at anyway.

They sat down at the counter and were greeted by Snake, who had taken his time to stop for smoking after realizing nobody was requiring his attention.

"Snake, give me something," Peach said.

"Sorry, 'something' was way too popular and now there are none left. Any other drink you'd like to have?"

"Do you have whiskey?"

"Sure do."

"Fine, give me a root beer then."

Snake rolled his eyes, but did as he was told. "So, Lucina," he slid a bottle of beer to Peach, who gladly grabbed it with one hand. "Did you get that spear or not?"

"No, after thinking for some time, I have decided to stick with my usual fighting style. It is probably for the best."

"You were trying to change fighting styles?" Peach asked after opening the bottle and taking a big gulp of the bitter drink.

"For a while, but that is all in the past. I'll stick with what I already know."

Snake tried offering her another bottle of beer, but Lucina politely declined. Truth be told, she was not very fond of alcohol as much as Peach for two good reasons: she didn't like the taste and she was actually very weak when it came to consuming it. She knew from personal experience that three shots were already enough to make her feel dizzy.

"Come on, Lucy," Peach tried to push the bottle at her. "You won't leave me hanging here, will you?"

"I-I don't even like beer that much," Lucina tried to push her away. "It's too bitter."

"If the problem is the taste, I have something here that you might like more," Snake encouraged by showing a fancy rectangular bottle with some sort of yellowy liquid inside. "This one has a much sweeter taste."

"I don't know..."

"Come on, do it for me, at least," Peach smiled sweetly, the kind of smile that lowered anyone's defenses, including Lucina's.

"O-Ohhh… I..." she hesitantly nodded, biting her lower lip. "Alright… one glass and that's it."

Peach clapped her hands in an excited manner, while Snake poured the liquid on her glass, a devious grin forming on his face.

That out to be good.

* * *

"A message from Lucina?" Robin asked in surprise as the screen from her phone showed the aforementioned princess' name.

"Uh, that's rare," Rob commented. "What does she want?"

"Just that she wants to meet me. Whatever could she want with me? I'm pretty sure she doesn't like me that much," she mused and put her phone on her coat's pocket.

"Of course she likes you. Why wouldn't she?"

"We barely talk and, ah, it's really just the sensation I get from her sometimes. I might be wrong."

Rob finished paying the girl behind the counter and grabbed the two ice cream cones the other girl by her side handed him. He offered one of them to Robin, who gladly took it with a satisfied smile on her face.

"You owe me an ice cream now, by the way."

"I don't owe you anything," Robin said. "Remember last week when you couldn't buy a can of soda because you forgot to bring money and you were thirsty? Yeah, we're even now."

"I was kind of hoping you would have forgotten about that."

"Never."

The two left the ice cream shop and wandered around the mall for a while, usually with Robin making Rob follow her from window shop to window shop to admire whatever was displayed for selling, be it clothes or utensils, and spent a good chunk of time just mindlessly chatting. None of them had the money to keep spending on frivolities, but it was always fun to dream. Maybe when they saved more once the tournament really started. Since they were now together, they could use both of their savings and who knows? Maybe a few years later they could move out and…

Rob was thinking way too ahead. They barely started dating. Maybe back in Ylisse he would already have bought the wedding ring at this point, but they were not in Ylisee anymore and the weird looks both he and Lucina got from the other Smashers once they questioned why Zelda and Link weren't married yet if they loved each other very much still burnt in his mind. Besides, he was still worried about Grima, even if that voice in his head could be just his mind playing tricks on him. He should tell Robin, as he felt she was the one who needed to know the most. Even if she decided to leave him, she needed to know. Gods, Rob actually got kind of scared at the thought. He wouldn't blame her, of course. Who would want to deal with some guy that might be possessed by an evil god any given moment?

Of course, that might not be the case. But if it was, he should be prepared for the worse. Good thing Master Hand made two of them. Imagine if there was only one Robin and he would have to be forced to be put down? Talk about a wasted fighter.

He was starting to over think again. He was fine.

If he wasn't…

No, no, he was.

He had drifted so much in his thoughts that he didn't realize that Robin was way up ahead, checking her cell phone once again. He only noticed it once she turned to him with a huge frown on her face and showed him her phone's screen.

"Hey, Rob, you have any idea what this means?" she sounded genuinely confused.

Rob squinted his eyes and read the message that was displayed. "I can barely make out what is written here," he said. "It looks like it was written by a drunken person and… Wait, is that from Lucina?"

"Yeah, but look at what she wrote, ignore the grammar."

"Um… I now… _know_ you have feels for me but iaskdn..." his tongue twisted. "Well that's weird. And the message ends there?"

"I don't have feels- I mean, feelings for her," she analyzed the message again, as if trying to figure it out if that was some sort of prank. "Why would she send me this?"

"Who knows? Maybe she is drunk."

"Why would she be drunk? That makes no sense."

Why would she be drunk at this hour and with her being Lucina and all of that, Rob couldn't tell. But if there was one thing he could tell it was the reason why she thought Robin had feelings for her.

Oh, he already had enough problems as it is. Robin didn't deserve to be left in the dark because he panicked.

"Robin, there's something I need to tell you."

"Yes?"

"I may have lied to Lucina about certain things involving you..."

"What?"

"Please don't kill me..."

* * *

Well, things could be a lot worse.

Sure, thanks to her insistence she now had Lucina so drunk that if the girl was to cry right there the tears would be made of alcohol but Peach always thought of herself as an optimist and tried to see the bright side of things. The bright side was that at least she didn't throw up… Yet.

It was just like people said: "you reap what you soil", and now she was responsible for dragging Lucina back to her room alone, because Snake was an ass and wouldn't help her with the task of helping a friend out. To be fair, he was still in his shift and he couldn't just leave the counter like that, but still, a little solidarity other than a "ha ha, she should drink more 'cause this is hilarious" would have helped more. With an arm wrapped around Lucina's waist and the other free hand supporting her arm that was on her shoulders, Peach carried the intoxicated girl through the corridor of the fourth floor and tried to ignore the questioning looks they got from passerby.

"Heh, where're we going, Peach?" Lucina asked with a heavy slur.

"To your room."

"But why?" she gasped, only to then let out a giggle. "I don't need to go to my room. I can shtay up aaaall night, if I wanna."

"It's not even night."

"No?"

"No."

"But the sky ish so dark outside."

"It's called a cloudy day and we've been having a lot of those lately."

"Oh yeah, we have, haven't we?" Lucina let out a toothy grin. "Anyway, where are we going?"

Peach sighed. She put Lucina in this situation, she would help her until she got out of it. Patience, she only need a little more patience.

The two princesses reached Lucina's door, the mere sight of such a simple thing as the golden number "420" engraved on the door being a blessing to the sober woman, until she realized something vital was missing.

"Lucina, please tell me you have your key with you."

"What key?"

"The key to your room."

Lucina squinted her eyes at the door in front of her. "That'sh not my room," she declared with a frown.

"Of course it is! I've been here already a couple of times!"

"No, my room would neeeever have such an ugly number in it."

Peach wanted to bite her own fingers off one by one. They could either waste two more hours just to get to her own room at the second floor, or…

"Lucina, give me your key."

"I told you that's not my room."

"I don't care. Give me your key now."

"But that's not my room!" she tried to break free from Peach's grasp, with little results of success.

Peach had no patience anymore and decided to use brute force. She pulled away the arm she used to support her by the waist and used her now free hand to search for any kind of pocket in her outfit that could be hiding the card key. Lucina struggled to keep her hands away from her, but all she did was stumble on her back on the floor, dragging Peach with her and making her friend fall right on top of her.

At that point, she really didn't care anymore what others would think about the rather compromising position they were both in. While she pinned down both Lucina's wrists above her head on the ground, she used her other one to search for anything that could serve as a pocket for her key card.

"Let me goooo," Lucina whined as she tried to kick her legs. Probably not the best idea, because they felt like jelly more than anything.

"Tell me where is your key card then."

"But why?"

"To get inside your room!"

"Why do you want to get inside my room? I didn't invite you."

"Oh, for the love of..." she gave a triumphant smile as she found what she had been looking for inside the girl's left boot. "Aha! Here it is!"

Peach quickly got up and helped Lucina get back to her feet. It was amazing how at one moment she was moaning and struggling for Peach to leave her alone, and then one second later she got completely silent and went along with her. Not that she would complain, as it became now a lot easier to guide her inside. Peach slid the card on the reader and unlocked the Ylissean princess' room and the two entered, almost as if all of what just happened a couple of seconds never happened.

Except it did, and there was a certain goddess who had been watching the scene unfold not far away who would make sure to have it memorized in her head.

"Lady Palutena, can you please stop covering my eyes now?" Pit, who stood by her side and had his eyes covered by her hand, asked.

Palutena just kept grinning and uncovered the angel's eyes as requested. She had no idea what was going on, but that sure was something!

Meanwhile, Lucina simply fell on her back on her tidy bed and kept making incoherent groans as Peach searched for a bottle of water in her fridge. Spending the evening taking care of an alcoholic girl wasn't exactly what she had in mind, but she was already there, it was her fault and Lucina wouldn't do anything to help her situation, so yeah, she was not a complete asshole who would left her alone in her bedroom in that state.

Once she found a bottle, she placed it on the wooden bed desk and turned on the lamp that was on it.

"Lucina, sit up for a little while, okay?" she gently rubbed her shoulders and helped her sit up on her bed. "Do you need to throw up, or something?"

"Ugh, I'm fiiine, I already told you that."

"Well, drink some water anyway."

Lucina grumbled something Peach couldn't understand and took big gulps of cold water, not even caring about the droplets that escaped from her mouth and wet her lap. That would make things a little less worse.

"Y'know what I've been thinking?" she said all of a sudden. "I think I'll message Robin and tell her why we can't be together."

"Oh, my stars..."

Not that again. Peach grabbed her hand before she could reach for her phone that was carefully strapped to her belt. "You have already sent a message to her, remember?" she said and let out a sigh.

"I did?"

"Sorta."

Truth be told, it wasn't much of a message as it was an unfinished mess of one, because Lucina at the moment lost control of her fingers over the small keys and accidentally sent it unfinished. Still, she was pretty sure that, were she sober, Lucina would never just send a message accusing someone of having feelings for her out of the blue. From what she told her, she just heard from the other Robin that his female counterpart might have a crush on her. He could very well be wrong and, honestly, wouldn't it be so much better if she made things clear with the girl Robin when she was sober?

"But I need to tell her it's wrong to have a crush on me."

"It's not really wrong, but if you're uncomfortable, why don't we wait a little more?" Peach suggested. "You're going to regret sending this message like this, trust me."

"Oh, okay… But it is wrong."

"Well, that's your opinion."

"You don't think it'sh wrong?"

"No, not really."

"You are sooo weird," Lucina flopped on her back.

Peach helped her sit up again. "How am I weird? How is it weird for a girl to crush on another?" she decided to humor her for a while, if discussing that kind of thing would make Lucina sit quiet for a few minutes.

"It just is. You NEVER see girls marrying… And kissing, and ugh," Lucina felt her head get light again. "If it was normal, wouldn't they be doing those stuff?"

"Well, have you ever thought that maybe they never show affection towards each other because they are afraid of being judged by people who have the same thought as you?"

There was an awkward pause and, for a moment, Peach wondered if she said something wrong. Even if she was just humoring her, those were still her sincere thoughts.

"Oh, Gods, I never thought about THAT!" Lucina gasped. "What if she's jusht AFRAID of me? I need to… I need to tell her I don't think she's weird."

"Oh, so she's not weird anymore, but I am weird for thinking there's nothing wrong with two girls loving each other," Peach smirked.

"Nooo, you're not weird. You're, like, my best friend in the whole world."

"I thought Robin was your best friend. Uh, the male one, that is."

"Him too. Robin is my best guy friend. You're my best girlfriend."

"Well, I feel honored," Peach giggled. "But what about Robin, Lucina? Do you have a crush on him? I mean, I know you said he's your best friend, but..."

"No, I don't like him THAT way, I could never like him that way, even if I tried reaaallyy hard."

Her drunken sincerity was enough to convince Peach.

"It's kinda funny, y'know?" Lucina mumbled. "I feel so at ease near Robin, but I completely loose my words when I'm near the other Robin. My heart beats a lot lot lot faster and all I can think of is… I don't know, that maybe if I jumped off a window my cheeks would stop burning."

"..."

"Should've been the other way around, uh?"

"..."

"That's soooo weeird… Soo..."

"..."

"Ugh..."

Lucina covered her mouth with both her hands. She was going to be sick.

"Bathroom, now," Peach pulled her up.

* * *

"You lied to her about my sexuality?!"

"I'm sorry, I panicked!"

"ROB, what the hell!"

"Look, I was going to say it was Shulk who had a crush on her, but all I could think of was you."

"Aw, that's sweet of you," she punched his shoulder. "But completely unnecessary! Why couldn't you just be sincere with her and tell her we were dating?"

"You're one to talk!" he massaged the bruised shoulder. "Look, I know that what I did wasn't exactly right, but you also are acting like we're not dating at all."

"I told Shulk we were."

"Because you trust your life in him and he probably knows more stuff about you than yourself. Around other people, you act so distant towards me that it doesn't look like we're a couple at all."

"We don't need to prove anything to anyone," Robin crossed her arms. "What, do you think that only by announcing to everyone in sight that we're dating is the only way to show that I love you?"

"I'm not talking about proving anything to anyone." Rob scratched the back of his neck, his cheeks suddenly gaining a light red color. "I'm just saying that MAYBE it would be nice to be able to kiss you when we're not in our room. Or, I don't know, if you're feeling bold enough, maybe hold hands."

"Oh..."

Well, Robin really never thought about that. Worse, she didn't even have anything to use as a comeback because he was kind of right. She was never very fond of the idea of public display of affection, but this wasn't just about her, was it?

"Seriously, is holding hands that important to you?"

"Yes."

"…Fine, fine," she blushed and then squeezed his hand. "Look, I'm not used to this, alright? I mean..."

She was shut up by a light kiss on her lips.

"Yeah, okay, it's a start."

Oh, he was so dead. Still, she didn't let go of him for a moment. Robin could feel her cheek hurt from how much they were blushing. She subtly looked around her, wondering if anyone had seen it and was thankful to see most Miis going on with their lives as if nothing else mattered. Sure, there was a couple that was seated near a fountain that had the statue of a Goldeen in it that actually paid attention for a second, saw them and whispered among themselves, but nothing major. At least, those were the only Miis that Robin could spot, but when it came to Smashers, there were none in sight.

She could get used to that. Maybe some day.

"Listen, we need to clear things up for Lucina," she said all of a sudden. "I don't know if it was because of this incredibly stupid lie of yours that she's been acting weird around me, but we can't leave her hanging like this."

"We?"

"Don't think you're escaping this easily," Robin pointed her index finger at his chest. "You put us in this situation, you're going to help us get out of it. And I expect you to tell her face front that we are now dating. At least SHE deserves to know it."

"I guess that's only fair..."

He hoped Lucina would take the news well. Rob knew she harbored no romantic feelings for him, but Lucina sometimes could get quite jealous over those she considered dear to her, if her family back in Ylisse could be any indication. Or when she confronted Luigi with all sorts of non-subtle questions when she thought he was getting a little too close to Peach.

His smile grew even bigger once he realized this entire time Robin didn't seem to even consider letting go of his hand.

* * *

**Drunk Lucina may not be the best Lucina, but she was still pretty fun to write. I don't have much to comment about this chapter, but I've got some questions for you guys, so that's what I'm going to do.**

**1- These days my friend complained about random guys at parties trying to hold her hand, because she considers this a very intimate act, but she's completely okay with making out with random guys (she even has a list), and I was just confused at that point. Do you think that hand holding and other small gestures of affection are actually more intimate than just kissing (or having sex)?**

**2- Who did you vote for the Smash Ballot?**

**3- Would you prefer if I answered to reviews on the author's note or should I continue answering them through PM? I feel kind of weird answering just the anonymous reviewer here (and I do that every once in a while, I'm sorry for not answering you every time, anon). **

**Speaking of anon, no I didn't get Mewtwo yet. I could have gotten him for free because I have both versions, but I paid almost no attention to it and regretted later, because NOW I want Mewtwo and I'll have to pay for the DLC. It's not even because I like the character, but hey, the bigger the roster, the better. The more, the merrier. I got kind of salty when he was announced, but I then I realized how ridiculous I was being and was basically acting like one of those douchebags that complained about characters they didn't want in getting in. He's optional and a lot of people are happy, so that's what matters. Grima is the main villain from Fire Emblem Awakening and it's not the first time he's trying to get to possess Rob, that's all I'm gonna say about him.**


	14. Wasn't just one Robin good enough?

**Someone save me from my exams, please. I'm not prepared for them.**

**In other news, I have decided to answer to the reviews here, mostly because I might even answer some questions some other people might have, but don't review for n reasons. They aren't going to be as lengthy as my PM replies, but whatever. The answers will be at the end of the chapter. **

**With that said, I hope you enjoy it.**

* * *

"Okay, Rock, I'll need you to test and see if it's working," Shulk said as he held the blue robot boy in front of him a dummy.

"I hope it does."

Mega Man threw the dummy in the air and tried to use Spark Shock on it with very little success. Something in his wrists were still malfunctioning and impeding the shock sticks to replace his hands.

"I don't know what else to do," the robot mumbled.

"Give me your hands," Shulk took his hands into his own. "You won't be able to activate any electrical attacks if the sticks don't pop out, so the problem is really on your wrists."

Shulk grabbed the screwdriver that was placed on the floor and turned his attention to Mega Man's wrists. He was pretty sure something was loose and the only reason why his Spark Shock didn't work was because of his body's safety system.

"Thank you so much for helping me out, Shulk. I owe you a big one."

"Not a problem. I'm glad I can be of use."

It was not uncommon for Shulk to transform his own hotel room into a personal lab whenever the opportunity arrived, especially when said opportunity came by helping a friend out with malfunctioning problems. It wasn't usual for Mega Man to show problems with his mechanical body (R.O.B. required way more assistance), but every once in a full moon he would visit Shulk asking for a fix up after an intense battle.

Truth be told, he just liked talking to Shulk. Most of the issues Mega Man had he could fix them himself. He always found it fascinating how the Homs' eyes seemed to take a particular shine when he talked about all the scientific discoveries and newest technologies from his home world and this current one, he couldn't help but listen to his monologue. It sure beat having to spend time in his room alone and fix his problems in silence.

Except this time he really needed Shulk's help.

"Hey, Shulk, can I ask you something?"

"What is it, Rock?"

"You're friends with Lucina, right?"

"We're good friends, I think."

"Do you know what was going on with her today?" Mega Man asked.

"What do you mean?" he raised his gaze in surprise. "Sorry, but I haven't seen her today. What did happen to her?"

"I don't know, that's why I was asking you. On my way here I saw her walking all funny and Peach having to support her, because I'm pretty sure she was one step ahead from falling down. But it was only briefly and I kinda didn't want to interrupt whatever was happening between them."

"Do you have any idea where she might have gone to?"

"Probably her room. She didn't seem too well. Kind of tipsy, you know?"

Shulk might pay a visit to her later then. Whatever happened to Lucina, by the way Mega Man described her, something good it couldn't be.

"Yeah, I can have an idea. Thanks for telling me that, Rock."

"If you see her, can you tell me what was her problem later?"

"Well, aren't you nosy."

"Ah, well… I'm curious, that's all," if it was physically possible for him, Mega Man would have blushed.

Shulk let out a heartfelt laugh and proceeded on finishing his work.

* * *

"I'm never drinking," Lucina moaned with her paled face turned to the toilet. She had her mouth hung over and eyes were as lifeless and dull as they could get, all while she just kneed closely to it. "Ever, ever, ever again."

"No need to exaggerate," Peach said, patiently waiting for Lucina to show signs she had already puked out all the toxins, one hand holding her hair and the other gently massaging her shoulder. "I mean..."

"How could you let this happen to me?" there was another wave of nausea. "I told you I couldn't handle alcohol that well and you still wanted to see me like this?"

"You said you didn't like the taste, not that you had low tolerance," the princess explained, albeit a little irritated by the accusations. "And, yes, I wanted to make you get just a little loose and happy, because you're always so stiff and serious, Lucina. I wanted you to let go a little, I never wanted you to almost enter in an alcoholic comma."

"You should have..."

"I tried, trust me."

Lucina could feel her throat burning and her stomach twitching as that wave of nausea got bigger. She got a little closer to the toilet just to make sure she wouldn't make an even bigger mess than what currently was, but it was all a false alarm.

"I think… I think I'm going to be fine now," she said in a weak voice. "I don't feel like wanting to vomit anymore."

"Are you sure?"

She slowly nodded and tried to get back on her feet, but still had some help from Peach just in case. Her bathroom now reeked and there were still a few chunks on the seat of the toilet that made her feel even more nauseated, yet it could have gone a lot worse. As much as she was still bitter at Peach for letting her get into this state, at least she was there for her and would not leave her side until she had gotten one hundred percent better.

Truth be told, Lucina felt exhausted and cold, she could not stop shivering. As much as she wanted to just fall asleep there, maybe a good hot bath would be enough to renew her spirits. And maybe brushing her teeth to take out that horrible taste too.

"Listen, why don't you hop in the shower and I'll wait for you outside?" Peach suggested, almost as if she had read her mind. "If you need anything, just shout my name."

Lucina had no objections and agreed with her friend's suggestion, giving a small thank you to Peach before shooing her away and closing the door. Peach decided to wait for her to finish by watching some television, as she really had nothing else to do. She flopped on the girl's bed and grabbed the remote, ready to turn the device on, when she heard knocking on the door. Peach mentally cursed whoever decided to show up just now and headed towards the door, wondering who was the unfortunate soul that decided to pay a visit to Lucina while she was still in a hangover.

Wait, was it because she was drunk that they decided to visit? If that was the case, she was ready to smack some sense into whoever had ill intentions towards her. She opened the door and was greeted by Shulk's friendly face, which made her lower her guard completely.

"Shulk, hi," Peach said a little more brightly. "What brings you here?"

"What are you doing here, Peach? I thought this was Lucina's room."

"It is," she gave the bathroom's door a glance before turning her attention to the seer again. "Listen, now it isn't a good time for you to be visiting her. She hasn't been feeling well."

"That's the reason why I came," he said, trying to look over her shoulder and spot Lucina somewhere in her room. "I've heard she wasn't well. I was wondering if there's anything I could do to help."

"I've got everything under control here," Peach tried to subtly close the door, only to decide otherwise once she realized who she was talking to. "Saaaay, Shulk?"

"What?"

"You usually hang out with the girl Robin a lot, am I right? Are you good _friends_ or something?" she gave extra emphasis on the friends part.

"Why do you want to know?" Shulk tilted his head in surprise. "I mean, yeah, we are very good friends. But where did this come from?"

"Do you happen to know if she has a certain crush on Lucina?"

"W-What?! No, I mean..."

Peach rolled her eyes and pulled Shulk inside. Oh, his reaction told her she was in for an interesting ride. Peach hasn't spend a lot of time sticking her nose in other Smashers' lives to not be able realize when a good drama was about to burst. She was pretty sure it was all a misunderstanding, that Robin didn't actually have feelings for Lucina, but she still loved a good drama and watching the circus catch fire.

She lost so many friendships because of that. Honestly, she was surprised at how Zelda and Captain Falcon could stand her for too long. Even she could not stand herself sometimes.

Focus, Shulk had important information! She had to help Lucina above all else, selfish motivations aside!

"So, what is it that you wanted to say?" she asked once she closed the door and forced him to sit on the bed.

"Why do you want to know if Robin has a crush on Lucina?!"

"Because Lucina stuffed herself silly with alcohol because she was so nervous about it," it was technically true, even if the triggering point for her getting drunk was Peach's insistence. "She couldn't stop mumbling how wrong it was and basically was a mess. She's taking a bath right now after having puked everything out."

"That's terrible..."

"And I tried telling her that that might not be true, that that was probably just some rumor spread by the guy Robin, so..."

"Wait, it was Rob who told her that?!"

"That's what she said to me."

Shulk shook his head and tried to not slap his forehead with his palm. Why would Rob tell Lucina something as ridiculous as that when, according to Robin, they had kissed? It had to be lie, he was pretty sure of it. Or else, he would have known, right?

What a mess.

"No, Robin has no interest in Lucina, at all," Shulk said. "Listen, can we keep what I'm about to say to you between us?"

Peach nodded a little too eagerly, but didn't say a word. This was so much better than just watching television.

"Robin… Um… She's already in a relationship," the seer hesitated, and for good reason. Something about how Peach looked at him made him really uncomfortable. "I can't really say with who, I'm not sure if she would like for me to go around announcing this to everyone, but she's already taken and seems to love him above all else. I don't know why Rob would ever lie to Lucina, but it's the truth."

"Already in a relationship, uh?"

"Yes."

"With an actual guy?"

"Yes."

"And it's not with you?"

"No."

"Well, there it goes option one. That's a shame, I always thought you two would make a cute couple," Peach clapped her hand together. "But I KNEW IT! Robin has no interest in Lucina, just like I said. So, tell me, who is the lucky guy?"

"I-I'm not sure I'm supposed to say that. I mean, if Rob lied about their relationship, then he must have a reason for that."

"Why did you bring the guy Robin into this is if I'm asking about the girl?"

"I..."

"I mean, it's not as if he has anything to do with her being a relationship, right?"

"You see..."

"Right?"

She knew something was up. That cheeky grin, those sparkly blue eyes full of glee and mischief and hands clasped together like a child who was just waiting for their birthday present to be handed, Peach was just waiting for him to confess everything.

He just wanted to see if Lucina was doing well. He didn't sign up for this.

"For the love of everything you hold sacred, you PROMISE me that you won't tell anyone?"

"My lips are silent like a grave," she made a zipping motion over her mouth. "My tongue was practically built over a graveyard."

"… Right," he sighed. "Yeah, it is Rob. They started dating in the beginning of this week."

For a moment, Shulk thought Peach would scream in glee, but the Mushroom princess actually had quite the posture for someone who had been pressuring him into spilling out every bit of gossiping she wanted to hear.

"You know what's funny?" she simply asked. "I already had a nagging feeling they would end up together."

"You're joking."

"No, I'm really not. They are pretty subtle about it, but I've already talked to them a few times and got to observe how they acted around and looked at each other. It was pretty adorable, to say the least," Peach giggled and covered her mouth. "There was no way that there wasn't a spark between them, even if just tiny."

Peach sure was an interesting person, indeed. She was more observant than she let herself look.

"But, between us," she whispered. "Isn't it a little..."

"A little?"

"Incest-ish?"

"How so?!"

"Ah, well, they may be the same person, but doesn't that mean that they share the same blood and come from the same parents? Wouldn't that make them sort of siblings?"

"Don't we all come from the same creator, though? As far as I know, we were all created by Master Hand and share the same essence."

"Touché."

They were interrupted by a clicking sound coming from the bathroom. Both blondes turned their heads and saw Lucina walking towards them, dark blue hair completely damp with water and a modest white towel being the only thing covering her body.

"Oh, hi there, Shulk," she greeted him casually.

"Hey, Lucina," Shulk greeted her back. "Heard you weren't feeling well. Are you okay now?"

Peach couldn't stop blushing. From what, she couldn't know, but she had no idea how Lucina could act so cool over the fact that Shulk was suddenly there and seeing her wearing just a towel. And then there was Shulk, acting like that there was nothing to it. Really, who acted like that?

"I'm much better now, thank you for worrying," Lucina smiled..

"Okay, seriously?" Peach blurted out, all of a sudden. "Lucina, go change into some clothes already. Shulk, have some decency and stop staring!"

They had absolutely no idea why Peach was so annoyed all of a sudden, but did as they were told. Lucina grabbed the first pair of casual clothing, while Shulk decided to wait outside, still confused at how flustered Peach was. She sure didn't act like that when he decided to show up in battle in nothing other than his swim shorts.

"I-I'll wait outside too," the Mushroom princess announced. "Take the time you need."

"Peach, wait," Lucina grabbed her arm.

"What is it?"

"Listen, I've asked to meet the other Robin after dinner at the lobby," she bit her lower lip. "Do you think you can come with me?"

"What for?" Peach smirked. "Aren't you the one who will supposedly break her heart? Why would you want a shoulder to cry on, then?"

"Right… That did come out kind of wrong, didn't it?" Lucina let go of her arm. "Never mind what I said. I can do it on my own."

"I'll be there for you, don't worry," she smiled as she saw the expression of relief on her face. "Just, ah, keep in mind that anything can happen, okay? I still believe you're making a storm in a glass of water out of this situation."

* * *

"Ah, there she is," Robin waved at the two princesses that approached them. "Wait, what is Peach doing with her?"

"Does it even matter?" Rob asked. "Let's just get this over with. We still got a fight tomorrow and I just want to rest."

"Well, it's your fault we're in this situation."

"Yeah, I know. No need to keep rubbing it on my face."

They walked towards the nervous swordswoman. Peach preferred to stay behind and watch it from afar, though Rob couldn't tell if the smile she gave Lucina was of encouragement or if she was just enjoying the soap opera unfold. Probably both.

"Hey," Robin awkwardly greeted.

"Uh, hey," Rob said in the same tone.

"Hello Robin and… Robin," Lucina took a deep breath. She could do it. "Listen, may I speak with you in private?"

"Lucina, Rob has something to tell you first," Robin lightly elbowed the hesitant tactician by her side. "Go on."

"T-Tell me what?"

"Lucy, I'm really, really sorry, but I lied to you," Rob said, avoiding eye contact with her. "I kinda… Robin is not interested in you, at all. I said that because I panicked."

For Lucina it felt like the ground bellow her has just disappeared. Lied to her? Why would he even do that? No, she must have heard it wrong, somehow. "I'm sorry, what?!" she asked in disbelief. "Please tell me this is some sort of sick joke! I don't find this funny at all!"

"It's true," he didn't know where to put his face, he hated seeing Lucina this distraught. "I didn't intend for things to escalate this horribly. I was planning on telling you sooner, but..."

"How could you?!" she yelled, giving him a strong push on his shoulder. "How could you say this to me?! Do you have ANY idea how worried I got?"

"Lucy… The reason why I did this was because I panicked at the time and was afraid of you knowing the truth," Rob pointed at himself and then at his lover. "Lucina, Robin and I… We are sorta dating."

"Sorta?" Robin asked in disbelief.

"Okay, we are dating."

For a moment, Lucina didn't say a word and just kept switching glances between the two tacticians in front of her. Dating? So, the other Robin had no interest in her because she was already in a relationship with her best friend? What? Just what? The corners of her lips twitched nervously as she gritted her teeth in anger.

"What is wrong with you, Robin?! What gives you the right to screw with my feelings like this?"

"Whoa, okay," Robin tried to calm her down. "I know that what he did was really screwed up and all, but there's no need to..."

"Don't," Lucina stepped away from her. "Just… Don't. I don't want to talk to you. Neither of you! Stay away!"

"Lucina, you're throwing a tantrum,"she frowned and tried to take a step forward, which only made the princess give another step backward.

"I am not!"

There were a few curious looks from the passerby people, most of them wondering whatever could be happening for the usually collected and calm Lucina to become so tempered. Peach herself stood so far that she couldn't make out what they were saying, yet even she didn't dare to step in and get in the middle of the crossfire.

"Well, it's not like we talk a lot anyway," Robin mumbled. "Seriously, what is wrong with you? Even I didn't get this upset."

"What is wrong with me? What is wrong with you?!" she shrieked in a shaky voice.

"Excuse me?"

"I thought… Gods, why are you even here? Why must there be more than one Robin? How did this even happen?"

Had she been more calm, Lucina would have thought twice before letting her feelings out like that and she was pretty sure she would regret those words in an hour. Yet, at the moment, nothing else really mattered. She just wanted to scream in anger, frustration and despair. She had no idea why her heart hurt so much. Or, rather, she did, and that was what scared her the most.

"Why there must be more than one Robin?" she repeated and brought her hands close to her chest. "Why did Master Hand create you? Wasn't one good enough?"

"Lucina, you take that back right now," Rob growled as he brought Robin closer to him. "She has the right to exist as much as I do. How would you like if people said you had no right to exist because you're too similar to Marth?!"

"You're kissing your female self, you narcissistic dolt!"

Robin was shaking in anger and Rob wasn't fairing any better, gritting his teeth with such strength that he might snap them. Who did she think she was?

Regret hit Lucina sooner than she thought, though, and she decided to back off before things got even uglier. "Listen, I'm not in the best conditions to discuss this," she murmured and turned around. "I'm sorry, just… Leave me alone. I want some time to think about everything."

"You can have all the time in the world," Rob said, putting a hand on Robin's back. "Let's go, Robin."

They went on their separate ways, Lucina walking towards the entrance door and both Robins walking towards the elevators. They passed by a rather worried Peach, who ran towards Lucina in concern, only to be shooed away by her and quietly go on her way, like a puppy who had just been kicked.

The trip back to their room on the fourth floor was silent, with neither of them in the mood to speak to each other, while they had their minds deep in thought. Robin didn't know what she had ever done to Lucina to get such a strong rejection. Apart from existing, that is. Why did she dislike her so much just because she was the same person as Rob? Or was it because she was the same person as Rob? Or was it because she was in a relationship with said tactician that set her off? It couldn't be, because Lucina has always acted kind of distant towards her, and Robin was sure that was not one of her cases of naive jealousy.

Why did Lucina hate her, then? What did she do?

Rob regretted ever opening his mouth. Sure, one moment or another Lucina would have discovered about them, but still, he felt miserable. Worse, he never would have expected for her to lash it out on Robin. On him, of course, considering he was the one who put them in this situation, but what did Robin ever do to her? He was the one who lied to her, so why did Lucina decide to take her frustrations out on her?

Unless… She was upset that Robin wasn't interested in her?

He seriously needed to have a word with Lucina. Something told him that it wasn't the lie in itself that made her act that way.

They arrived in their room with the feeling of that they were ran over by a horde of horse riders. Rob flopped on his bed, emotionally and physically exhausted and just wanting for the day to be over. And maybe for the next day too. And the other, and the other, and the other one…

"I'm so sorry," Rob covered his face with his pillow. "Robin, I'm really, really sorry. I never expected Lucina to get such a negative reaction."

"She would have discovered about us being together anyway," Robin mumbled and laid by his side. "I just wish it wasn't like this."

"She'll get around soon… I hope."

"Umm..."

Rob threw the pillow behind his head and as she wrapped her arms around his waist, too tired to do anything else other than take comfort in him. "Tomorrow is the big fight," she said, nuzzling her forehead on the back of neck. "Promise me that, whatever it happens, whoever gets the position of default, nothing will be different between us, okay?"

"Robin, I was willing to give away the position for you. I really don't care who gets to be the default at all."

"You do a little, don't even try to deny it," she let out a cocky smile, one that Rob didn't need to see to know it was there.

"… Just a little," he admitted, a little embarrassed. "Still, I would gladly give it up just to see you happy."

"..."

"Robin?"

"Gods, Rob, this way it gets kind of hard to get mad at you for long, you know that?"

"Yeah, it's all part of a big scheme to make you not get mad at me for my fuck ups. You've figured it all out," he let out a small chuckle, but found no energy to continue joking. "Really, I'm sorry for..."

"Let's… Not. Not now."

A shiver went down his spine as he felt a soft kiss being planted on the back of his neck. It didn't feel lustful or needy, it was just a simple, chaste kiss. "We can discuss that later," she yawned and began to drift off. "Much later..."

Rob had no energy to contest back and just nodded his head, too tired to pronounce a word. He just took comfort in his lover's arms and fell asleep not long after.

* * *

**Next chapter is finally going to have the last fight and we'll get to see who will be chosen to be default. I have the feeling you guys already know where this is going, but my focus here is not on the choice itself, but rather on how they'll deal with this. Besides, we still got more stuff to resolve besides their competition, so it's not like this story is getting close to its end (though it definitely is more than half done, I don't plan on making this one a 30 something chapter long story).**

**Who do you think will be the default, Rob or Robin?**

LegitElizabethWWEFan**: Yeah, Rob was kind of an idiot. I personally think that Robin didn't mind as much, because she's a little more tolerant and is more confused as to why he lied like that than angry. I hope Lucina's outburst here makes you feel better, though! Snake deserves a slap for thinking Lucina should get drunk more, but in their defense, they didn't expect for Lucina to get drunk this fast and with so little. I think you're the first person I've heard say that voted for Lara Croft! She would be pretty awesome in Smash, but I kind of fear that third party characters (besides Ryu, who's rumored to appear as a dlc character) are out of question.**

Smash King24: **Peach just has the habit of appearing in my stories out os nowhere, be it as a cameo or a sudden secondary character. I don't know why, but I really like writing about her. ****She really was just there to take care of Lucina, because Rob was unavailable at the moment. ****Master Hand is always so busy that it would take a while for him to find out about their relationship, even if pretty much all the Smashers knew about it. But yeah, if only close friends know, then the chances of him finding out are a lot smaller. If they made Young Link come back, it would be great if he had a move set inspired by Majora's Mask, I'll give you that! Especially after the release of the remake, now would be the perfect time to try to incorporate this. I don't know anything about Star Fox, but Krystal seems nice too.**

JV:** Actually, even if it's hormonal, you can control the need to kiss or fuck just as well as the hand holding. ****And it can be kind of hard to make some guys pull away, even if he's just trying to hold your hand, trust me on that one.****But that's a nice theory, because at the same time, there are people who will flat out say "I need to make out with/fuck someone", but you never hear "Oh my god, I need to hold hands, I'm so thirsty".**

Guest: **You don't understand, I want his trophies of Classic Mode and All Star Mode, even if I don't like him.**

Guest (chapter 4):** You're completely right! I mean, about me being a filthy Melee casual, not about Roy being worse than Marth in every way. I'm surprised they haven't thrown me in the trash for sucking so bad at this game. ****Roy will always be my boy****.**

Anon: **Drunk Lucina is always fun to have around. ****I don't believe gay women are more accepted than gay men, not at all. ****A lot of lesbians are still expected to end up with guys and their sexuality are usually discredited and seen as just "titillation" for the straight male gaze. It's a different kind of prejudice, but no less harmful. In my view, holding hands is not a really intimate act, I've hold hands with my friends plenty of times and never wanted anything more than that, but that's just me. That's why I made that question, because I'm sure there are a lot of different views on this. ****I've noticed you review every chapter, and you don't need to put your real name if you don't want to, but I was thinking that maybe you should create a nickname so it would get easier for me to answer you. ****Oh, and yeah, I'm really excited for Lucas, I like him a lot!**

Archangel's Blade:** I really didn't understand your analogy ****i****n the first answer, I'm so sorry! I'm not sure if Chrom would get in, considering he's already in Robin's Final Smash, but having Cordelia in it would be pretty cool! I'm just wondering how her pegasus would fit in, lol. **


	15. No items, Robin only, Final Destination!

**Thanks again Makokam for proofreading this chapter! And thanks niigoki for also helping me out. You guys are great! **

**I've been thinking about drawing a cover for this story, but I have nothing done. Maybe someday I'll have it done. Maybe. Probably.**

* * *

_If there was one thing that Rob had to admit it was that, despite being the most plain stage of all times, Final Destination sure did have some impressive visuals. With the bright orange sun contrasting with the equally massive blue planet on the background, it was hard not to stop and admire the two vibrant, complete opposite colors clashing against each other, giving off a beautiful show that made it difficult to not stop to look at it once – which is what Rob would be doing, if he wasn't so focused on avoiding getting burned by Robin's Arcfire tome._

"_Arcfire!" Robin shouted from the platform above and threw another ball of fire, hitting Rob in mid air and engulfing him in its flames._

_He fell to the ground from the impact. Cursing his burning skin he climbed to his feet, but Robin was already there to grab him by his collar and throw him on the ground again._

"_Ha, checkmate!"_

_His eyes widened at the sight of her taking her Levin sword out of thin air, ready to bring it down on him and win the battle. He was down to only one life stock, he was finished. Rob closed his eyes and waited for the inevitable, until a guttural voice whispered on the back of his mind:_

"_Get up and destroy her! You are not finished!"_

_He didn't know how but through some miracle Rob managed to avoid her attack. He found himself back on his feet and with Robin a good twenty feet away from him, charging in with the iron sword. Now it was his chance! Rob made a waving motion with his sword and took out his Arcwind tome and, when the time was right, locked her in a combo of powerful wind magic. Robin fell on the ground, completely dizzy from the attack and unable to get up._

"_That's it! End her right now!" the voice purred, seeming especially pleased._

"_Rob..." she moaned as she laid on her back, her body not being able to take any more hits. "Don't..."_

_Rob paid no attention to her pleas and raised his silver sword. _

"_Don't let him-"_

_She let out a raspy gasp as the blade struck in her stomach, blood suddenly dripping from her lips and eyes quickly loosing their shine the deeper he thrust. _

"… _Robin?"_

_No reaction._

_As if waking from a dream, Rob jumped backwards once he realized what' had just happened. He let go of his sword, his face going pale and twisting with regret, while his hands trembled in shock. Laying in front of him was Robin, soaked in blood and dead as one could get._

"_R-Robin, no..." he stuttered in anguish. "No, no, no, no… Why? Why did I…?"_

_He was going to be sick._

_All of a sudden, he felt something surface on his cheeks. Still in shock, he raised his hands to touch whatever could have grown and let out a gasp once he realized he had touched a third eye. And a fourth. And a fifth. And a sixth._

_No, no, no, no._

_He could already see his fingers turning into claws and fangs taking place on his mouth. A pair of horns suddenly popped out from his head too._

_No, no._

_He was starting to lose his mind, his desperation making him give in easily to the sinister shadow that latched on him and refused to let go._

Rob woke up with a gasp.

"Ugh, not again..."

The room was still dark and Rob never thought he would appreciate being awake in the middle of the night as much as he did at that moment. He realized he had been clutching Robin's hand painfully hard and immediately let go of her, wondering how she hadn't woken up. He quickly turned around, worried sick about his roommate. A sigh of relief escaped once he saw her alive and well, sleeping peacefully as if nothing in the world could disturb her.

He snorted when he saw she had some strands of hair in her mouth again. Rob would never not find that funny. Really, Robin, would it kill to sleep with your hair tied up? Letting out a quiet chuckle, he gently brushed away the strands of white hair away and tried to get up without waking her up.

"Hmm… Rob?" she mumbled with closed eyes. "What..."

"Just a bad dream," he whispered. "Go back to sleep."

"If you say so," she yawned and turned around, giving him space to get up.

Rob stretched his back and went straight to the bathroom instead, the memories of his nightmare still burning in his mind. He checked himself in the mirror, taking deep breaths to calm down as he saw nothing out of ordinary. He had no horns or extra pair of eyes, nothing associated with the fell dragon Grima. In turn, however, he did have two huge eye bags and a sickly appearance, with his cheeks lacking any sort of color and his dry mouth hanging open.

A huge frown formed on his face. He honestly couldn't stand looking at himself, not like this. He wanted to go back to sleep and try to get back his sleep hours, but it was likely that he would be haunted by the same nightmare again.

The nightmare where he was possessed and killed Robin during their final battle.

He couldn't stand looking at himself in the mirror anymore and the corners of his lips twitched as a huge frown was threatening to appear. Grima may be just a figment of his demented imagination nowadays, but it was seriously starting to worry him, if not, at least, piss him off. The nightmares just wouldn't leave him alone, always disturbing his sleep and making him wake up feeling like shit.

Gods damn, maybe he needed help. Or maybe he should stop being so paranoid and quit whining. Those were just nightmares, nothing life threatening. If he couldn't handle those, how could he handle anything else? Maybe he should give the default spot to Robin, she would be way more suited for it.

Ugh, he did make a promise he would do his best, didn't he? He couldn't back off now, even if he was afraid of hurting her.

"You really are hopeless, aren't you?" he groaned at the mirror, rubbing his tired dark eyes. "Useless..."

No point in crying over a few bad dreams. His battle would start in a few hours, he really should be getting some sleep. Rob splashed some water on his face and headed back to his bed and to Robin's side, trying to ignore the mild headache that suddenly appeared.

* * *

Lucario waited patiently for the door by his side to open, amber eyes switching glances between the door and the rest of the corridor, wondering how much the occupants of that room planned on sleeping in.

The Pokemon jumped once the door swung open and the two Smashers jolted out of their room in a complete hurry.

"I can't believe you overslept," Rob complained, dragging Robin by the hand.

"I can't believe you didn't wake me up earlier," she whined in return and rubbed her eyes.

Lucario ran towards them, oblivious to why they were in such a commotion (not that he cared about knowing it anyway), and caught up to them without much effort.

"_Robin, I wish to speak to you._"

Both Robins stopped running at the same time and turned around, both with the same curious and nervous expression. "Can't this wait?" Robin asked, not sure where to look. "I'm kind of in a hurry."

"_I wish to speak only with the male Robin."_

Would it kill to specify?

"Lucario, I'm also kind of in a hurry," Rob said, feet tapping the floor in agitation and hand still not letting go of Robin's. "We needed to be at Master Hand's office ten minutes ago and..."

"_Are you available after that?"_

"After that he's going to take us to Final Destination for a fight."

"_And after that?"_

"Lucario, just come with us," Rob blurted out impatiently. "You can discuss whatever after we're done with Master Hand."

Lucario made no objections and the three of them rushed to the hand's office, taking about three minutes to get from their floor to his. Outside the office, leaning with his back against the big double doors, was Shulk, apparently waiting for them to arrive. Whitney and Will also were there for some reason, Whitney looking a lot more excited than Will, who seemed to be there just because he was forced to.

Of course Lucina wouldn't show up.

"Oh, Robin, Rob, good morning," Shulk greeted. "What took you so long?"

"Robin overslept," Rob pointed his thumb at her.

"And Rob is dumb and didn't wake me up."

"I tried to!"

"What it matters is that you are both here!" Whitney said with enthusiasm. "Master Hand is already waiting for you."

"Better make it quick. He seems pretty impatient," Will added.

"Right," Robin bit her lower lip. "Um… What are you doing here, Whitney? Not to be rude, but..."

"I know, this is all of a sudden, but I got curious," she clapped her hands together. "I want to know who will become the default."

"But just hearing the results apparently was too boring for her," Will rolled his eyes. "So she dragged us here."

"You know you want to see the battle too! How do you expect to face them in the future without knowing how they fight first?"

"Um… Guys?" Shulk stepped away from the door, "Master Hand is waiting, remember?"

Rob and Robin hastily walked past them and entered the office, being greeted by Master Hand floating above his marble desk. Being a disembodied hand, it was hard to guess what he was feeling at the moment, which made both of them more nervous, because if he suddenly decided to burst in anger for their tardiness, they wouldn't be prepared.

Actually, even if they knew he was angry they wouldn't be prepared for his burst of anger, so never mind.

"You are late."

Passive-aggressive, uh? Okay, better than shouting.

"Sorry, we had a few..."

"Complications? Spare me the details, Robin. What it matters is that you are here."

Robin bit her lower lip. She just lost the opportunity to be quiet. At least, Master Hand seemed more eager to start off their battle than lecture them about how he was a busy guy who couldn't be kept waiting.

"Today you will battle on Final Destination. Remember, all items will be turned off, you will have two stock lives and there will be a 5-minute timer."

"Okay, that seems fair."

Master Hand guided them outside and, once everyone was settled, transported all the Smashers present to Final Destination.

* * *

Lucina was miserable. Worse, she had no idea what exactly made her feel that way. There were so many factors, that she didn't know which one to pick and attribute to her misery. She had just yelled at Robin, both of them, and said one of the nastiest things she could come up with to them. Yet, she felt like that wasn't the worse part. Those were her sincere feelings, and she just let them out without filtering them and letting her emotions run wild. She also was pretty rude to Peach, who just wanted to help her and ended up being pushed away by her.

Parry. Parry. Thrust. Parry. Parry. Thurst.

Now she had no idea how she would confront both Robins. After what she said, she wouldn't be surprised if they gave her the cold shoulder for at least five whole months. Her bond with Robin was pretty strong, she knew they would make it up eventually. As for the other Robin…

"She must hate me so much, right now," the princess mumbled.

It was probably for the better.

Parry. Parry. Thrust.

"You said something, Lucina?" Marth asked.

"O-Oh, it's nothing," she forced a smile.

Parry. Parry. Thrust. Parry. Parry. Thurst.

"You know what?" the blue haired king lowered his sword. "I think we should take a break."

"But we have just started training!"

"Lucina, we have been training for more than an hour and a half," Marth said. "Trust me when I say you need to rest."

Lucina didn't want to rest, she wanted to keep herself occupied for as long as she could. Being around Marth has been proving to be effective at calming her down, even if a little. The Wii Fit studio was also a very relaxing place to be at, so there was that too. It was mostly thanks to Marth though. Training with him brought something that resembled a peace of mind and Lucina wanted to desperately latch onto it as much as she could. Still…

"I understand," she said, lowering her Falchion, "My apologies for keeping you here."

"You don't need to apologize for anything," he gently ruffled her hair, earning a yelp of protest from the other. "I enjoy training with you, Lucina. I just think you should relax a little. You are always so tense, that it seems like your movements have been getting stiffer."

"Yes, so I have heard," Lucina grumbled and tried to keep her hair in place. "It is not my intention, I swear."

"I know. Really, all you need to do is trust more in your guts, feelings, and you'll see that you'll get better in no time. There's no need to be afraid of making a few mistakes every now and then, as long as you learn something from them."

They were interrupted by a third person entering the room, a young man with bright red hair and a face Lucina could swear she had seen somewhere.

"Marth, you done here? You promised you'd buy me lunch," he said in a lighthearted manner. "You know I can't refuse free food."

"In a minute, Roy."

Oh, so that was the Melee veteran Roy. Lucina sure didn't expect him to look even younger than her ancestor, or herself for the matter, looking to be around his sixteenth year, more or less.

"Will you be alright?" Marth asked her.

"I think I will. Thank you so much for today's practice!"

"Hey, why don't you come with us?" Roy asked with a grin. "Lucina, right? Marth talks about you all the time! I'm sure he'll be happy to buy lunch for you too!"

"Hey!"

"He does?" Lucina sounded incredibly surprised at that. Usually it was her who wouldn't stop talking about him.

"Come on, it'll be fun!"

"You don't need to come if you don't want to, Lucina," Marth elbowed the ex-Smasher. "He's just being inconvenient."

"No, no," she shook her head. "I mean, I would appreciate it. Um, but I think I will pay for my own food."

"Suit yourself. Let's go then!"

* * *

**3… 2… 1…**

**GO!**

Robin charged towards Rob, bronze sword in one hand and Elwind tome tightly closed and being held by the other, while he kept close to the ledge. As she approximated, he activated his shield, only to be proven ineffective when she grabbed him and threw him off the stage. As he jumped in the air in order to recover, she also jumped and swung the Levin sword upwards, catching him in a slash of electrical energy.

"Argh!" he screamed and managed to fall inside the stage, quickly rolling away from where she landed.

He began charging his Arcthunder tome, storing the spell for when the moment was right. Robin began charging hers, and going by the time it took for her to close the book, he was sure she was going to try to unleash Thoron. He ran towards her, when she finished charging and jumped just in time to avoid being hit by her bronze sword, though it wouldn't do much damage, it still would make him flinch and give her an opening for a more powerful attack.

He rolled when he landed, dodging another grab, "Aggressive today, aren't we?"

"Don't hold back," she flashed him a grin of confidence.

"I won't."

He dodged an Arcfire spell by rolling away and quickly got behind Robin. Without giving any chance for her to react, he slashed the Levin sword across her back, making her fly off to the ledge. That's it, now was the chance!

"Arcthunder!" he unleashed a ball of electricity that floated in a straight line towards her.

"Thoron!"

A massive jolt of electricity burst out from her tome, canceling Rob's spell and hitting him hard in the chest and stomach. He felt his entire muscles paralyze for a second, before being thrown off the stage yet again. The tactician cursed under his breath as he tried to recover, dodging mid-air as Robin shot Elthunder at him, narrowly missing. He could feel the sparks of electricity brushing his skin, but nothing distracting or harmful. He activated his shield once he saw Robin dashing towards him with the bronze sword pointed directly at his stomach.

Robin groaned at the missed attack, but soon found herself grunting in pain when Rob used that as an opportunity to grab her and make her fall to her knee, dealing damage to her with Celica's Gale before throwing her upwards and preparing his Levin sword to strike once she fell down.

But Robin was prepared and, once she snapped out of her daze, shouted:

"Elwind!"

Rob was caught by her wind magic and forced to stop what he was planning and run to the very end of the stage, his entire body already shaking in pain. One or two more slashes of her Levin sword and he would lose one life, he was sure of it. At least Robin also seemed to be dealing with her own fair share of pain, her breathing now seeming heavier and her shoulders slumped over in exhaustion.

"Hey, nice one!" he said with a smile. "Are you okay there, Robin?"

"I'm fine," she began charging her Arcthunder tome. "What about you? Still hanging in there?"

Rob took out his own tome. "Yeah, nothing to worry about," he said, sparks flying from the book's pages.

He closed his tome and stood still for a couple of seconds, formulating a plan to get close to her without suffering any damage. He could always bait for an attack from her and counter attack, but that was too risky, as she had her Levin sword out and ready to strike. Rob would take the risk. He had to.

He ran towards her and jumped out of the way of her Thoron spell. If he didn't pay attention to her every movement, he would certainly be doomed. Taking the opportunity that she was now recovering, he slashed his weapon in mid air, ready to hit her in the face.

But she activated her shield.

Robin immediately switched her yellow tome for a purple tome, one she usually didn't use unless the situation was dire. "Nosferatu!" she exclaimed and enveloped him in a dark, magic mist, draining his health and using it to heal herself. However, she hesitated once she decided to look up and see him struggling against the dark magic, his face getting pale and contorting in pain.

She really didn't want to do this.

"Rob..."

Robin's concentration broke and he was released before any major damage could be done. Seeing how he had an opening, he slashed the Levin sword forward, making direct contact with her chest and sending her flying off from the stage.

She was now down to one life.

"Whoa, that one was really good!" Whitney commented with enthusiasm from the bleachers.

"I really don't want to get caught in that thing," Will shivered at the thought.

Shulk just looked at Master Hand, who was floating by his side. He had no idea what to make of what the hand was feeling at all, and kept wondering if he was enjoying their battle or if he was as impatient as them to finish the competition soon.

"So, what do you think?"

Still, small talk never hurt, right?

"Hmmm..." Master Hand mumbled, apparently lost in thought. "That Nosferatu spell should have lasted longer, considering the damage the female Robin had suffered."

"Is that so?"

"Don't mind me, Shulk. I'm just thinking out loud. Please do continue watching."

Rob ran to the edge once Robin was brought back to the stage with full health. He needed to think something up quick, he couldn't play defensively forever. Not because he didn't want to, but he was pretty sure Robin would make sure he lost a life before the timer ran out. And the last thing he wanted was to go into Sudden Death. He sidestepped a jab from her bronze sword and used a weak thunder attack on her back. It didn't deal much damage, but it was enough to make her flinch and give him space to get away from her.

"Arcfire!"

Rob threw a ball of flame in front of him, just in case she decided to turn around and try it again, however, Robin jumped over and managed to slash him with the bronze sword.

"Tch, I was careless," she murmured. The bronze sword, while providing a good knock back, wasn't enough to make him lose his life. Has she used the Levin sword however, she would have taken him out with no problem.

So why did she use the bronze sword when she could have...

"Okay, Rob, that's it! You're going down!"

"Ha… Ha, as if," he panted.

"Uh, usually your comebacks are a lot better than this one."

Truth be told, Rob was starting to have yet another migraine and it became harder to focus on his lover running towards him. So much, in fact, that he didn't react in time to avoid being grabbed and pushed forward, right to the left edge of the stage. With shaky hands and a heavy breath, he slowly got back to his feet, feeling a throbbing pain in every part of his body. He should just let her take away one of his lives and come back completely healed.

_It's only over when I say so, boy._

He had no idea how, but Rob managed to dodge another slash from the bronze sword. The way things were for him he didn't doubt that even that feeble weapon could K.O. him at the moment. He grabbed Robin, twirled around and threw her off from Final Destination, his mind acting on pure instinct at the moment.

And it was his next move that determined his victory.

As Robin prepared to recover, Rob jumped off of the stage and fell after her.

"Uh?!"

"Elwind!"

Rob shot a powerful wind magic at her, knocking Robin downwards and straight into the abyss of Final Destination.

"I'm so sorry, Robin..." his voice became muffled by her scream.

**GAME!**

**THE WINNER IS… ROBIN!**

* * *

**Ahhhh, Elwind kills. They can make you feel skilled and powerful, unless you're the one being killed, then you just feel pretty dumb. Which is exactly what happened to me when I fought against this guy on For Glory and he went as female Robin and I went as male Robin. I got my ass kicked and he decided to kill me by using Elwind. I couldn't even get mad at him, the guy was really good, and our fight served as inspiration for this last battle, basically.**

**And Rob continues having terrible, terrible nightmares. Before anyone points out, yes, there are inconsistencies in the narration and they are intentional. Dreams don't have a logical segment, as far as I know. That's why Final Destination had platforms and Rob was able to use Arcwind and Robin the iron sword. I swear I know how Final Destination looks.**

Smash King24: **Well, you got the part about her using Rob's remark as an excuse right. But I'm not going to ****say anything else about her might having feelings for Rob. Just keep in mind that her outburst didn't happen because she thinks (or so she says) that they are a strange and wrong couple. ****I made Lucina more relaxed with Shulk there seeing her in just a towel because of the Hot Spring Scramb****le**** DLC, where she says she sees nothing wrong with people ****having mixed baths****. As for Shulk, he goes into battle wearing only his pair of tight shorts, and if you take into consideration that you can make all your party in Xenoblade Chronicles travel in their underwear/swimsuits, I usually headcanon that Shulk has no issues with partial nudity ****(I mean, have you seen about 95% of Sharla's outfits? I'm pretty sure ****he**** doesn't mind ****them****)****.**

Makokam:** Cordelia could also have a really big hitbox and be very weak against arrows (Link, Toon Link, Pit and Dark Pit would have a great time against her). Who knows? There are deeper motives for her outburst, but I'm not telling. That is a question I keep asking myself ever since the first chapter. But if I got this far, it's a little to late to regret knowing the answer. I'll try to explain less and show more, thanks a lot for the advice. I hope this chapter became less wordy!**

LegitElizabethWWEFan: **It really wasn't the smartest thing to do, I agree with you. ****Yeah, their friendship won't end because of this, but she did say some pretty nasty things to them (calling Rob a narcissistic dolt and implying Robin should never have been created), so it will take a while for their relationship to return to normal. ****Maybe Robin did go easy on him because she's hopelessly in love with him. Wouldn't that make her kind of an idiot too? I don't know. **

SmashBrosFan96: **Well, this way is certainly better, lol.****I wouldn't say Peach is a troublemaker, but I do think she's more of a "trouble seeker". She just love's watching a good drama, but never goes out of her way to create them. When it comes to her friends, she actually gets kind of conflicted because of this, because she genuinely wants to help them. ****Well, the original Lucina probably wouldn't act this way, I just took some liberties and ran with the "they are clones, so it's okay for them to be slightly OOC" excuse. ****I have my friend code on my profile and my ID on the Wii U is Mahdotsuki.**

Natia: **Aren't we all? And ****a shock pairing, uh?**** I ****REALLY**** like the way you think!**

JV: **Throwing a wrench? Well, I've never heard of that expression, but it ****does**** sound like something painful to the canon! Nope, Rob ended up wi****n****n****ing and becoming the default. The wrench was not thrown today.**

**Now for this chapter's questions****: **

**-Do you guys plan on buying or have already bought ****an amiibo****? (just bought a Robin amiibo on Amazon, because they don't sell them here, and I hope it arrives at my home in one piece)**

**-What was the most bullshit kill you've ever gotten when playing against someone in Smash?**


	16. Aura parasite

**This chapter is brought to you by DRAMAtical Murder's entire soundtrack, because it's that amazing. Just, for the love of god, don't search for this game on Google. Just go listen to the soundtrack.**

* * *

"Congratulations, Robin," Master Hand said once everyone returned to the hotel. "You are now officially the default Smasher in the roster."

"Um," he mumbled, taking a quick glance at Robin, who stood a few feet away from him, before turning his attention back to Master Hand. "Thanks, that's… Really something."

"I shall prepare the schedule for your first weeks, distributing the number of fights you will perform accordingly. Remember, since you are now the default, you will be performing in more battles than your counterpart, but the payment will also be better."

"I'm well aware of that."

Rob felt beyond uncomfortable, be it from how nonchalant Master Hand was with all of that from how he seemed to be ignoring Robin's presence completely. Could that situation get any more awkward?

"Female Robin, you have fought well," Master Hand said, finally addressing her ever since they returned. "Though I still have my doubts that you gave your all."

He cringed. Of course, it could.

"I did my best," Robin said, subtly tightening her fists. "Don't think I slacked off."

"Right, I will take your word then," he said, still not sounding convinced. "Anyway, I shall see you at the opening ceremony on the next week. You are dismissed."

They left the office swiftly and in silence, only breathing again when they were outside and the doors closed.

"Well, I guess it's over," Robin gave him a bittersweet smile. "Congratulations, Rob. I really did not see that Elwind spell coming."

"I got lucky, that's all."

"_Ahem._"

They turned their attention to the Smashers that waited for them outside. Lucario seemed uncharacteristically impatient, while Shulk just stood there, quietly waiting for both Robins to take notice of his presence. Whitney and Will stayed behind as they had a double battle in one of the stages inside the stadium, so none of them had the time to congratulate Rob, or give their condolences to Robin.

"_If you don't mind, could we perhaps talk now?"_

"Lucario, I barely came out from that office, calm down," Rob said with annoyance. "Alright, we can talk now. What do you want?"

"_May we speak in private?_"

"… Fine, fine," he agreed. "Robin, Shulk, I'll go with Lucario for a while. I'll see you later for lunch."

"Okay, take care, Rob," Shulk said.

"See you later," Robin mumbled.

Rob left with Lucario with a lingering feeling of guilt for leaving her behind right now of all times, but Lucario just wouldn't leave him alone. Maybe he would take the time to think of something to help lift her spirits up, but right now he had to deal with the Pokemon. They took the elevator and headed to the ground floor.

Meanwhile, Shulk just turned to Robin with a concerned look on his face. "I'm really sorry for today's battle," he said. "Are you alright?"

"He won, fair and square," Robin sighed and crossed her arms. "No reason crying over spilled milk. It's still better than him giving up and letting me get the title by default."

"I see..."

"What about you?" she asked, a little uncertain about his mood. "How have you been these past couple of days?"

"Ah, well, a lot better, I'll give you that."

"That's good..."

They walked in silence towards the elevator, an awkward silence taking over the two as none knew exactly what to say. Should they apologize to each other? What for, exactly? Should they just talk normally as if nothing had happened? Technically they could, since it wasn't like they had a serious fight, but there was still an awkward atmosphere between them.

"I, uh, I'm sorry," Robin finally said.

"For what?" Shulk asked in surprise.

"I don't know, for forcing you to talk to me when you didn't want to? That's why you got angry at me, right?"

"Oh, that," Shulk scratched the back of his head. "It's not your fault, I was the one being immature there."

"Immature? Why?"

"Well, I should be happy for you and Rob finally being together, but I just treated you with indifference and arrogance."

"I've had to deal with worse reactions, trust me on that one," Robin bit her tongue. "But let's not mention that again. Anyway, was there any reason for that, or…?"

"I'd rather not talk about it. Maybe someday, but it has to do with an issue I want to resolve alone for the moment."

Robin raised her index finger and opened her mouth, but restrained herself and lowered her hand. "Alright, you don't want to talk about it, I'm not going to pressure you. If I do, we'll be in this cycle forever," she said, giving him a bump on his shoulder with her fist instead.

"Like I said, one day I'll tell you."

"And… I guess this was also part my fault."

"I don't understand? How so?"

"Well, I complained about you never telling me anything," she rubbed her arm and bit her lower lip. "But let's face it, it's not like I gave you a lot of room to talk about your problems anyway. I didn't realize you were going through emotional problems until you almost exploded. Most of the times I'm just talking about myself. Last time I came whining to you about how wrong it was to have a crush on Rob, I didn't notice you were tired, until you fell asleep right in front of me."

"Ugh, I did fall asleep right in front of you, didn't I? Robin, I'm so sorry for that," Shulk apologized, scratching the back of his head in embarrassment.

"It's okay," Robin said with a smile. "I should be the one apologizing for dragging you into my personal dramas without noticing that you were dealing with your own problems."

"..."

"What?"

"I was going to tell you you were exaggerating, but I can't bring myself to do that," now it was Shulk's time to smirk. "You can be kind of self-centered sometimes, Robin."

"Wow, okay, then!" Robin exclaimed in a fake offended tone. "When did you get so rude, mister?"

It wasn't until then that they realized the elevator had arrived some time ago.

* * *

"Lucario, just spill the beans already," Rob complained. "Why all this secrecy?"

"_I ask you for your patience. I just thought that the patio would be a more soothing place to discuss this,_" Lucario replied nonchalant.

Rob had to admit, the patio really was a rather soothing place, being the greener place in the hotel, with beautiful plants, its gravel paths and numerous rock benches. He could understand why Lucario would like this place, but he really did not feel at ease near the Pokemon at all. Something about how Lucario analyzed his every move with attentive eyes really did make him uncomfortable and all he wanted was to get things over with.

"_Robin,_ _first of all, I want you to understand that I am not accusing you of anything. I have a request to make and I need your full consent for this. And whatever results from this, I ask you not to panic."_

"Is it something that's going to hurt me?" he eyed him suspiciously.

"_No."_

"Okay, then. What is it?"

"_May I check on your aura? There has been something off about it for quite some time."_

"Oh, right, you do have aura powers, don't you? I shouldn't be surprised that you can read them," Rob gulped. "Uh, sure, you can check my aura."

"_Robin, you are nervous," _he said, taking a hard look into his eyes.

"Well you're not helping at all, being all mysterious and creepy. Just… Get this over with, okay?"

"_Alright, give me a moment to concentrate."_

Lucario closed his eyes and took a deep breath, clearing his mind just so he could focus on the Smasher in front of him. One, two, three seconds passed and Lucario opened his now glowing eyes, the background and people in his camp of vision suddenly getting murky, except for Robin, who now had his body dyed in different colors.

There were some shades of blue, pink, purple, as well as an unhealthy quantity of gray, yet none of that actually interested him. No, what really caught Lucario's attention was the lump of black energy that seemed to be taking over the tactician's head and torso. The lump itself seemed to be lazily moving around that area, sometimes occupying more than half of his head, only to then move to his neck and torso and then back to his head again, almost if it had life on its own.

That definitely wasn't good.

"Lucario? Is something wrong?"

Taking a deep breath, Lucario closed his eyes again and opened them once he felt that his mind and vision had returned to normal. He hadn't realized he had his mouth hanging open and that his body had completely tensed up, but Rob sure did, and that only made the tactician all the more worried about what he saw.

"Lucario?"

"_Robin, there is something sinister in your aura,_" he said in an alarmed voice. "_I cannot tell exactly what it is, but it's latching into you like a parasite._"

Rob could feel the blood from his face draining with those news. His breathing became more accelerated and hands started to shake. "So my aura has an intrusive entity, is that what you're trying to say?" he asked, his voice cracking just a little.

"_Indeed,_" Lucario nodded. "_As I said, I do not know what it is, but I can tell that this presence is of a malignant nature._"

"I see..." Rob said, suddenly crossing his arms over his chest and avoiding eye contact with him. "Lucario, I don't think I feel well. I think I need to lay down for a while."

"_I suggest we first see Master Hand and..._"

"Later. Not now. I… Don't want to. I don't feel well."

"_Robin, this is an urgent matter!_" he pleaded. "_I don't know just how threatening this presence is, but it's causing considerable damage to your aura and health. We cannot leave this unresolved, or else, it might get worse. Master Hand created us, I am sure he might know what to do._"

"I know, I know," he walked past by him. "I'll talk to him later. Right now, I really need to rest. Or grab some lunch. Or maybe both," Rob shook his head, "Anyway, I'm not in the mood, okay?"

"_Robin, please reconsider!_" Lucario pleaded. "_I understand this might be shocking to you, but the sooner we get down to this problem, the easier it might be to resolve it._"

"I already have an idea of what this thing in my aura might be," Rob said bitterly, still looking at his feet. "There really isn't an easy way to get rid of it. I mean, there IS one way to get rid of it, yeah, but..."

"_It's better than nothing,_" he said with enthusiasm. "_What solution do you propose?_"

"Kill myself."

* * *

"No, seriously, you had to see how mad Marth got that day," Roy laughed, stuffing his mouth with another piece of steak. "Jigglypuff woke him up from his daze with a slap and he just jumped out of the stage after that! I couldn't stop laughing!"

"I cannot believe he would do such a thing," Lucina said, trying to suppress a giggle.

"In my defense, nowadays I would never do such a thing," Marth said in embarrassment. "I was young back in Melee, I was having a rough day and Jigglypuff just so happened to choose that day to toy around with me and not give me a proper defeat, when it was my mistake for letting her break my shield and daze me."

His claims were only met with more laughter.

Why again did he let Lucina near Roy?

The three swordsmen were having lunch at Gulpin's Palace, a small restaurant located two squares from the Smash Hotel. It wasn't the most popular restaurant out there due to its modesty and simplicity, but it was also cheap and had a nice selection of food at the buffet, making it one of Marth and Roy's favorite places to have lunch at when they weren't in the mood for eating at the hotel. Recently it had started to attract more customers, but Roy had the suspicion that it was exactly because they visited the place a lot that it became it more popular.

Eh, who was he to complain? Good for the owners, he supposed.

"So, Roy, what made you leave Super Smash Bros?" Lucina asked once the boy calmed down. "By the way you speak of your past experiences in it, you seem to have enjoyed it a lot."

"Oh, I did, really. Had the time of my life there."

"Then why did you leave?"

"Some personal… Stuff," he cast a subtle glance at Marth. "I loved fighting in Melee, I would do it again if I had the chance. But by the end of the tournament, some emotional crap happened and I just needed a long rest after that."

"That was one long rest, indeed."

"Well, I didn't just bum around this whole time," Roy chuckled. "I went on to do other stuff, work at other places. I don't even live at the hotel nowadays and I don't think I want to."

"Oh, now I understand why I never saw you around. You've managed to buy yourself a house," Lucina said in awe. "That is quite an accomplishment."

"Actually, I just rent a small apartment not too far away from here," he said with a sheepish smile. "You're free to visit me whenever you like it! We could watch a movie together and- ACK! OW, ow, ouch! What the hell, Marth?!"

Marth was pulling his ear just a little too strongly, all while keeping probably the biggest passive-aggressive smile Lucina had ever seen from him. "And you are free to stop hitting on my descendant whenever you want," he said.

"I was just being nice to her!" Roy grabbed Marth's wrist and tried to pull his hand away, only to regret his decision, as his ear hurt even more.

"I don't believe you for a damn second!"

"Stop being such a jealous douche!"

"Stop being such a skirt chaser!"

"I was never a skirt chaser!" Roy hesitated for a moment. "Uh... Usually it was the skirt chasing me, back in my world."

Lucina just ate her food while she watched them banter, not really figuring it out what she could say to calm down their animosity. They sure were a lot more… Lively, than she took them for, especially the Hero King. The two kept bickering like they were an old couple and seemed to have forgotten that Lucina was there to begin with.

After a while both of them calmed down and resumed to eating, only this time a lot quieter, exchanging fewer words with each other and both seemingly lost in thought.

"Is something the matter?" Lucina asked in worry.

"Oh, sorry, Lucina," Marth apologized, crossing his cutlery once he finished eating. "It's nothing to worry about. Roy and I just tend to argue a lot."

"I don't know how we even make up after some of our fights," Roy gave a bitter smile. "This is nothing, trust me. We've had waaaay worse."

"I-If you say so..."

Once everyone finished their meals the three swordsmen got up from their table and went over to the counter near the glass exit to pay. Lucina was pleasantly surprised at how cheap her meal ended up being and promised herself she would bring Peach there eventually, as she knew how much Peach adored cheap places and it could work as a way to apologize for being so cold to her.

She still had no idea how she would approach Robin though.

They left Gulpin's Palace and reached a crossing path. "My apartment is just aways ahead," Roy told Lucina, pointing to the other side of the street.

"So I guess here is where we part ways, then."

"Actually, Lucina, I think I'll accompany Roy for a while," Marth said, his voice showing an awkwardness that she couldn't quite catch on. "Unless... You want us to escort you back to the hotel?"

"I will be alright. Please don't let me detract you from whatever business you have," Lucina reassured him. "Well then, goodbye you two."

She turned to her right, leaving both lords behind and made her way back to the hotel. Lucina still had no idea what she was going to do with her current situation, but at least being with the Hero King and Roy lifted her spirits up, even with the growing suspicion that there was something he didn't tell her about his friendship with Roy.

It was probably nothing. She was just over thinking.

It took about fifteen minutes of walking, but she had finally arrived at the hotel. With a heavy sigh, Lucina passed through the rotatory glass door and entered the lobby, wondering what she would do to pass time until her fight in three hours. Maybe she would go rest in her room, find a book to read or find someone to hang out with.

"Gods, no..."

She saw Robin walking not too far away from her, probably heading towards the cafeteria. He had his head hanging low and, had Lucina looked closely, she would have realized his face looked unusually pale. That was saying something. Too bad she was more worried about him not spotting her there to notice anything else about him. If she turned to the other way he wouldn't notice her. Maybe…

He turned his head around and noticed her standing there. Lucina wanted to dig a hole in the ground and jump right in. That was probably the most heart wrenching stare she had ever gotten from him. It wasn't a furious stare like she expected, instead, he gave her just a very tired, sad look, before going on his way, as if she wasn't even there. Lucina bit her lower lip, but did not attempt following him.

Why was he even alone? She would have expected to see him walking around with the other Robin, considering they were now a couple and all of that.

And just that thought alone gave Lucina a bitter taste in her mouth.

She never had a chance. Not that she wanted to have one to begin with, but it still hurt nonetheless.

"_Robin, come back here right this instant!_"

She saw Lucario chasing after her friend. Though, it really wasn't much of a chase as it was more of Lucario not knowing if he should run and grab Robin by the hood of his coat, or just stay put and hope he would turn around and come back. The result of that dilemma was a confused Pokemon, half walking, half pausing, with his paws in the air, as if trying to grasp onto something, trying his best to not sound desperate or rude towards the Smasher he barely knew. The poor thing.

"Lucario?" Lucina asked as she approached him. "Is everything alright?"

"_Ah, Lucina, perfect timing,_" he said with relief. "_You and Robin are good acquaintances, are you not?_"

"I guess you could say we are," she muttered. "We're not in the best terms at the moment though."

"_Well,_ _even if you are not in the best terms with him, your words will probably hold more value to him than mine._"

"I highly doubt it. Still, is there a message you want me to deliver to him?"

"_I do not wish you to send a message, but rather I was hoping you could convince him to talk to Master Hand._"

"I don't believe I'm capable of doing such a thing at the moment. Why don't you go ask the other Robin to do it?" she asked bitterly. "I am sure he will listen to anything she says, considering he's heads over heels towards her now that they are dating."

There was an extremely awkward silence between the two Smashers.

"_What?_"

"What?"

"_Should I..._"

"Anyway, why would you want me to ask something like this of him?"

"Right... _Lucina, I fear Robin might be slowly becoming possessed by a malignant presence. If he doesn't search for help in time, I fear that whatever this thing is might take full control over him._"

Lucina's eyes widened in shock and her hand automatically rested over the hilt of her Falchion strapped to her hip.

No, that couldn't be it! It couldn't be who she thought it was! Truly, she was jumping to conclusions, HE couldn't possibly be what Lucario claimed to be taking over Robin's mind. What would be the odds of his returning?

Lucina's grip on her Falchion only tightened.

* * *

**And that's all for today. At first, I wanted Marth and Roy to be a lot friendlier towards each other (not that they are not really great friends), but then things happened and now I can't help but see them as really great friends who can't seem to resolve their past conflicts to save their lives, while still trying their best to swipe all of that under the carpet. And while I like to see Marth as the overly protective type towards Lucina, Roy accidentally flirting with her wasn't what set him off.**

**Meanwhile, Rob keeps getting more depressed.**

Gamerfan64: **Well, it's not difficult to spike Little Mac, I think. The Kirby amiibo looks pretty cute, too bad he's not my top priority. Amiibos are kind of expensive for me, so I have to sort out which ones are worth the headache of finding for a decent price and buying.**

Makokam: **Don't spam people with arrows, it's super annoying, man! I've heard Robin and Lucina's amiibos are super difficult to find, which is pretty ridiculous. I'm really jealous of you having a dozen right now, I'm not even joking. Rob's dreams were not supposed to mirror the final battle, but it was more to show his fears of hurting Robin and Grima exploiting the hell out of it. I like Marcina (?) more than I like to admit, but I don't intend on making it happen in this fic. I can't see Female!Robin as Lucina's mother, I just can't. I refused to make my avatar marry Chrom in all of my playthroughs because I didn't want to Lucina as her daughter.**

JV: **Amiibos may be expensive, but they are still cheaper than a lot of video game action figures. Besides, I think it's the only way we'll ever get a Palutena figure, so I'm down for it. Yeah, when Ganondorf's charging that punch nothing can make him flinch (I think). We've all been there, I feel your pain.**

Natia: **Are you kidding me? Peachcina is pretty friggin' sweet! I hope this chapter had enough Lucina for you!**

Smash King24: **I thought about making Robin throw one of her tomes or sword at Rob and vice versa, but I couldn't implement this in the battle to save my life! I think that it's because I based their fight on that For Glory match, so I didn't know where to fit this idea in. Lucario ended up more worried about all the heavy energy that came from Rob than anything, I'm not even sure he suspected that the Robins were in a relationship until Lucina accidentally said it to him. Well, at least you can still buy the more common amiibos in stores, right? I can only buy them online because Nintendo isn't exporting anything to my country anymore, and the amiibos I've found here were only wave 1 amiibos that cost roughly the equivalent of 40 dollars. I had to give in to a Japanese scalper to get a Robin amiibo, because the situation here is pretty bad. Villagers can be pretty annoying, especially because most of them play it in the same way and spam you. But usually Villager players don't know what to do once you get close to them, so there's that.**

Yuki2311: **I'm so glad you like this fic, really! Thanks a lot! Yeah, I watch their videos occasionally, when the topic gets my attention. I thought their Rosalina theory was bs, but I liked their Smash Bros hidden lore theory. I thought it was a pretty interesting take on the series.**

SmashBrosFan96: **Unlike Robin, Rob's dreams aren't just from PTSD, but it's not like he knew any of that until Lucario told him something was wrong with him and he connected the two things. Well, people deal with traumatic events in different ways, so what you said about Samus might not be wrong. I've never played any Metroid games, but I've heard Other M tries to tackle this side of hers (and fans hated it, welp). Roy is my boy too! I remember getting pretty sad when I saw he didn't make it into Brawl. But who knows? Maybe the rumors that he will return as a DLC in Smash 4 are true. Man, good luck trying to get those amiibos! It looks like Nintendo is doing what they can to make them rare and difficult to find. It's pretty ridiculous, if you ask me. **

Guest: **Yeah, Rob winning really didn't come as a surprise to anyone. Too bad he has worse things to worry about now.**

Master Hamsters: **Wish I had a Shulk amiibo, he's cute and I love his character. I refuse to pay 40 dollars on him though. It's especially frustrating when you block an attack and deactivate your shield, only to die right after that.**

**And now my questions: **

**-Are there any characters you want to see making a cameo in this story? If not, are there any characters you want to see making more appearances (like Ness or Whitney, for example)?**

**-What's your ultimate Smash OTP? Like, you love it so much you don't feel guilty at all for shipping it?**


	17. Cobalt blue is the warmest color

**The good news is that I finally ended the semester and now have more free time. The bad news is that I didn't pass in neuroscience and will have to do the subject again. Still, I'm happy it's over.**

* * *

Peach couldn't remember when it was the last time she got to reunite with Zelda and Samus, but that was not important at the moment. What was important was that they were there at the bar with her, chatting away like they would do in old times and paying for her booze. Well, it was mostly Zelda, since Samus wasn't very fond of the idea of emptying her wallet with alcohol. It wasn't as if she was consuming it anyway, so none of the princesses complained.

Being three of the only six female fighters in the middle of 30 something males, Peach, Zelda and Samus had grown quite close to each other during their time fighting in the past tournaments. Even with their different attitudes and points of view, they made sure to always stick by each other. Even when sometimes all they would do would be argue between them, their fights never lasted long enough. However, these days they really have been getting sort of distant from each other.

"Can you believe Samus here is finally in a nice, stable relationship?" Peach said, her voice dragging just a little, patting the mentioned woman in the shoulder, while still staring at Zelda. "And it took her, what, an eternity?"

"I would appreciate if you didn't say that so loud," Samus groaned, yanking the princess' hand off from her. "Do you want to announce it to the world while you're at it?"

"Um, tempting," she gave a mischievous grin and glanced at the table behind them. "Maybe not to the world, but can I at least tell Douglas that the woman he has been pinning for so long is not even straight?"

Samus followed her gaze and found Captain Falcon in a heated discussion with Bowser and Little Mac over things she honestly could not care about. "Only because I'm tired of him chasing after me," she nodded in approval, after turning her head again. "Just don't tell who it is. I don't know how well he would take the news."

"Better than you think," Peach took another sip. "He's more mature than he looks."

"I hope you're right."

"Speaking of relationships," Zelda said, bringing their attention to her. "How are you handling your little problem, Peach?"

"There isn't a problem," groaned the other princess. "Lucina and I are just really good friends."

"But if she suddenly asked you for a kiss, you would give one without hesitating," she teased.

"Of course I would!" she blurted out, taking the other two women by surprise. "I mean, have you even SEEN her? Have you even got to be around her and talk to her? She's cute and adorable and a huge dork and I just want to pinch her cheeks! She's pretty much everything I've asked for in a person!"

"Why won't you be sincere with her and tell her how you feel?" Samus asked.

"Oh, thanks a lot for that, Samus," beamed an all familiar voice behind them. "I'm sure Peach appreciates an advice like this one coming from you."

They turned around and saw Captain Falcon standing there looking at them with his usual grin. Bowser and Little Mac continued arguing and it would take a while until they realized that the racer wasn't there with them anymore.

"Falcon, get lost."

"Take a seat," Peach said, cheerfully.

"Anyway, like I was saying, Samus' advice would sound pretty good, if it wasn't said by her," he said, taking a seat by the bounty hunter's side. "We all know Samus' is one of the least sincere people around here."

"Excuse me?!"

"For example, she could have just told me she has been dating another woman these days, but she preferred to not say anything and keep me hoping for nothing."

"I already told you I wasn't interested in you and you still insisted!"

"You never said you weren't!"

"Anyway," Peach turned to Zelda, who just kept watching the two banter in amusement. "I'm not going to say anything to Lucina."

"Why not? Even if she rejects you, wouldn't you feel more at peace with yourself?" she asked, the glass on her hand now empty.

"No, I don't think it would be worth it. Lucina is already dealing with enough emotional problems herself," she twirled her glass absentmindedly, watching the pink drink swirl. "And I value our friendship way too much to risk it like this."

"Well... She probably isn't even interested in women."

"Oh, no, I'm pretty sure she is. I think that that's exactly why she has been so down these days," the princess sighed.

"How did you even come to this conclusion?"

"Because it's pretty obvious she likes the girl Robin," Peach said, more bitterly than she expected. "And I don't know if she's realized this and is sabotaging her own feelings or if she really is that clueless."

Zelda had no words, so she just patted her in the back, because honestly, what else could she do? What could she say to make her feel better? "But it's okay," she heard Peach say. "I'm sure it's just a minor crush. It will pass, you'll see."

That was what Zelda told herself regarding her feelings towards Link.

"Of course. It is just a phase."

They were interrupted by the sound of Little Mac being restrained by Captain Falcon and Samus, while he begged for them to release him so he could punch Bowser in the mouth, his voice showing a clear drunkenness in it. Zelda covered her mouth in worry while Peach watched the whole situation escalate in morbid curiosity.

* * *

Okay, Robin was seriously worried.

She knew something was wrong with Rob the moment he started having that horrible headache, but she let it slide because, hey, maybe she was just imagining things and there really wasn't anything to worry about a sudden headache. Yet, ever since that little episode she has been feeling like he had been acting more distant from her. Or just about anyone else in that hotel. It seemed like he had been leaving their room less and less as the days passed by, except for scheduled battles and to go get some food (and even then, he has been skipping dinner and lunch occasionally), always claiming to be tired and wanting to sleep.

She hoped he at least have been sleeping while she was out, because he barely have been sleeping at night. And that couldn't be the case, because his eyes had been getting redder and with deeper bags under them the more the days passed by. And there was just so much attempts at comforting insincerity she could take before she started to feel like crap and a terrible lover.

So when the night before the day of the opening ceremony came around, Robin decided to confront him and ask just what in Naga's name was going on with him.

"Rob, we need to talk," she told him, kneeing over to his bed's side, where he laid down, and crossing her arms to support he chin.

Rob took his eyes off from the book he had been reading and turned his head to her, his nose mere inches from her own.

"Yes? What is it, Robin?"

"Are you feeling alright?"

"Yeah, I am. Why do you ask?"

"It's that you've been feeling pretty down these days. I'm worried, you know?"

"I have?" he closed the book. "Are you sure it's not just your imagination?"

"I'm pretty sure it's not my imagination," she poked him in the arm. "I mean, skipping lunches and staying most of your time inside our bedroom? You're always tired and you barely cracked a smile these days."

He didn't? He never noticed it.

"This isn't you. Come on, what's wrong?' she asked. "You know you can trust me with anything, right?"

"I know. I… Know," Rob closed his eyes and let out a sigh. "I'm not feeling well these days, that's all."

"Well, I can see that! But this have been going on for almost a week," Robin said, getting up and then sitting by his side. "You're looking sicker each day that passes."

Rob got quiet for a while, not really sure how much he would allow himself to tell her. Truth be told, he had been feeling worse and worse as the days passed by. He hadn't been doing much aside from fighting, eating and not sleeping properly. Ever since Lucario's warning about the evil presence the resided inside of him, Rob has been more and more fearful of doing just about anything. He knew he shouldn't be that way, as fear only gave Grima strength, but telling himself that feeling fear was irrational had the same effect of shouting at someone that's having a panic attack to not panic.

It just didn't work.

It also made him feel even worse regarding himself, which then made him reprimand himself for feeling that way. Because, really, how hard could it be to control his fear? And if he couldn't control his fear and emotions, then he was just making it easier for Grima to take control of him, which in turn made him more anxious. It was a never ending cycle of negative emotions that was driving him mad.

His nightmares also started becoming way more aggressive and extending outside of his past experiences in the war. Most of them usually involved him getting completely possessed by Grima and maiming either Robin or Lucina. Sometimes other fellow Smashers would get in the way, but the majority of those dreams involved those two. And he would always wake up with a dying scream in his throat, sweating and trembling. It reached the point in which he could barely get more than five hours of sleep, at best. At worst, like in the past couple of nights, he could barely keep his eyes shut.

Which maybe kind of explained why Robin thought he looked so sick. He hasn't been looking at himself in the mirror, but he believed in her.

"Rob," she called, placing a hand on his arm. "You're shaking."

"D-Didn't notice it..."

"What's going on?"

He didn't want to worry her. Yet…

"I've… Been talking to Master Hand these days," he said, quietly, almost in a whisper. "Robin, there's something really wrong with me."

"What is it?"

"I… Hm, you see..."

They stood in silence for a few seconds, with Robin patiently waiting for him to gather his words.

"Grima's back," he finally said. "And… It's been a while since he's been trying to get into my mind."

"W-What?!" Robin almost jumped. "You can't be serious! How would that be possible?! I mean..."

"It's not the same Grima we've faced before!" Rob quickly explained. "He's not nearly as powerful as the original, so you don't need to worry about me getting possessed and trying to destroy the world."

"As the 'original'?" she asked. "I don't think I understand, Rob. I really don't!"

"Remember when I said have talked to Master Hand? Well, we've discussed this for a while, and even he seemed confused at first, but he could only come to one conclusion..."

* * *

"_A malignant presence, you say?"_

"_That's what Lucario told me."_

"_Hm… And you say you have been dealing with terrible headaches as of late?"_

"_The headaches are not the problem. It's that voice in the back of my head that keeps annoying me," the tactician said, hoping his boss wouldn't suspect him of schizophrenia or any other sort of mental illness._

_Master Hand pondered for a while, floating back and forth in his office as Rob watched him from his seat. Lucario stood by his side, not really in the mood for sitting down, looking equally as worried. The Pokemon just wouldn't leave him alone until he decided to find a way to solve his problem, so he followed the tactician to their boss' office._

"_I was wondering," Rob said, bringing both Master Hand and Lucario's attention to him. "Do you think it's possible for gods to traverse from one universe to another?"_

"That came out of nowhere,_" Lucario commented._

"_Aside from me, not as far as I know," Master Hand said. "What do you have in your mind?"_

"_Well, you know all about my past and everything I went through, right? That's how you gave us our memories of our past lives."_

"_Not everything, but the sufficient to make you stay true to your person. Unfortunately, I couldn't give you the memories of how your life was before you were found by Chrom. It is kind of hard to recreate memories that were entirely lost."_

"_It's not like I miss those memories. Anyway, then you are aware of why I was born in that world and what was my original purpose, right?"_

"_To serve as the vessel for the fell dragon Grima, yes. Do you believe this malignant presence could be Grima latching onto you?"_

"_What else could it be? I mean, we both know the Grima from my time line wasn't killed and is only sleeping," Rob said in a bitter tone._

"Still, the chances of this supposed demon from your world awakening from his deep slumber and crossing an entire universe just to try to possess you seems far fetched," _the Pokemon said, not sure if that was supposed to be comforting or not._

"_Unless..."_

"_Unless?" both Robin and Lucario asked._

"_Unless this Grima is also a copy."_

"_What?!"_

"_It makes sense now," the hand continued, getting lost in his own thoughts. "I copied everything of the original Robin and made a perfect replica to live in this world. The replica ended up so perfect that even all his flaws passed over too. So when I copied Robin's soul, then that also means I might have copied Grima, since he is part of him too."_

"_Master Hand?" Rob called. "Uh, are you listening?"_

"_Robin, your situation is very intriguing indeed," he floated towards the tactician, getting uncomfortably close to him. "It appears that this parasite, as Lucario stated in the beginning, is indeed Grima. Yet, it appears to not be the original Grima, instead being just a copied fragment of the fell dragon."_

"_So… I'm not at risk of becoming a god dragon of destruction?" he asked, inching his head back so Master Hand wouldn't touch his face and hair. "You mean this thing is just an inconvenience?"_

"Fell dragon or not, this presence is still damaging his aura," _Lucario warned. "_Just because it is not a threat to the world, it doesn't mean it's not a threat to Robin._"_

"_Lucario is right. Not to mention that we still need to see to what extend Grima—let's call this parasite that—might have any control over you. The last thing I need is one of my Smashers getting possessed, or worse, killed by a mistake that I made."_

"_So… What should I do?"_

"_For now, just keep an eye on your own body and behavior. If you feel that there's anything out of normal, you need to report to me immediately," Master Hand pointed an index finger at him. "There is still so much we need to know about your current situation, so we need more time to observe you. It is imperative you don't hide anything from me, do you understand? I will do what it is in my power to get rid of this."_

"_I understand."_

"_My theory is that since this parasite doesn't possess a physical body, it might be trying to reach out to you to gain one. Yet, it is still too early to draw any conclusions. For now, just keep your eyes open."_

* * *

"But… What if Master Hand isn't able to get rid of this parasite from you?" Robin asked, still trying to digest all that information.

"… We'll cross the bridge once we reach it."

Robin bit her lower lip a little too strongly and, without uttering a word, she gestured for Rob to move over so she could lay down next to him. She clutched his arm especially hard, pulling the sleeve of his vest and resting her head on the crook of his neck. Gods, she could feel him shaking so badly. His voice when explaining his situation certainly sounded calmer than he looked like.

"Well, let's hope we never need to reach that bridge," she mumbled.

"But if we do..."

"We won't," she quickly cut him off. "And don't think about doing anything stupid."

"I can't promise anything."

She held him tighter.

"Yeah, I know."

* * *

_Lucina usually never ventured around the Smash Hotel a lot, always preferring to stay in places where she felt more familiar with. Yet, for some reason she couldn't explain, she ended up in the pool area. The place was completely empty, except for the woman with long white locks that was seated on one of the numerous vacant plastic inclined chairs right at the other side of the hexagonal pool. The sun was shinning brightly on her pale skin, giving her a unique glow that immediately caught her attention. Almost without thinking, Lucina walked towards her, heart accelerating and throat as dry as the Plegian deserts._

_Robin turned her head at her and sat up straight, a smile forming on her lips so bright that it could rival the sun. "Lucina, hello," she greeted._

"_Hello, Robin," she said. "Please, there's no need to get up."_

"_Are you sure?"_

"_Absolutely."_

_Robin laid on her back once more, apparently enjoying the warm sun on her face. She was sporting her usual tank top and that short skirt of her Grandmaster outfit, and Lucina could understand why, since the day was pretty hot. Still, with the position Robin was in, Lucina was sure that if she moved around just a bit, then maybe she could see…_

_Oh, gods, what was wrong with her? She would stay put and avoid having any thought of that sort. It just wasn't right!_

"_It just isn't right," Robin said with a certain sadness._

"_Excuse me? What is it that it isn't right?"_

"_Robin and I together like this," she explained and stretched her arms and back. "We're not working out. I'm just so sad we had to break up like this."_

"_Wait, what?!" Lucina exclaimed. "You broke up?! B-But you were so close..."_

"_That's why I called you here, silly," she sighed. "I wanted a shoulder to cry on."_

"_Oh, you did that, right? I remember..."_

"_Sit here," Robin tapped what little space was left of the chair and Lucina obliged. "Thank you for being here for me, Lucy. I really appreciate it."_

"_No problem."_

_Suddenly, she felt hand being delicately held by the tactician, Robin's fingers lightly stroking the back of her hand._

"_You're really beautiful, did you know it?"_

"_I'm… Not nearly as impressive as you are," Lucina looked down._

"_Don't turn your head like this," Robin said as she sat up. "Look at me. I want to see your face."_

_Lucina turned around in order to face Robin. "Is this better?" she asked._

"_Much better."_

_Lucina could feel her entire face heat up from Robin's touch and it only got worse when her other hand started to caress her thigh, but she did nothing to pull her away._

"_S-So, y-y-you and Robin..."_

"_What about him?"_

"_How did you break up?"_

"_Oh, that?" she sighed, bringing her face closer to hers. "He admitted he couldn't bring himself to feel anything for me anymore."_

"_Is that all?"_

"_He later ran away with Shulk."_

"_I'm so sorry… I had no idea..."_

"_Don't be," she said, her lips mere inches away from Lucina's. "It was for the better."_

"_Why?" Lucina whispered, trying her best to not go crazy with her sweet scent._

_It wasn't right._

"_Because now you can have me all to yourself."_

_Did she really even care at this point?_

_Lucina eagerly pinned her on the back of the chair, furiously assaulting her soft lips with passionate, if not, extremely needy kisses. Oh, how had she dreamed of the day she could have Robin in her arms without fear of the feelings of guilt and judgment, with the tactician squirming and sighing in delight with every touch on her flesh and every kiss on her lips, melting away in pleasure and bliss._

_How had she longed for this day to arrive. How had she longed for Robin to be with her and only her. It was just too wonderful to be true._

Bip. Bip. Bip.

"Gah!" Lucina woke up in a jolt, her mind still groggy and dizzy from her sleep.

She found herself laying on her bed, being enveloped by the light of the dawn of a new morning. The alarm clock was still ringing at her bed desk and it took a while for her to leave her catatonic state and turn it off.

It was all a dream. Of course.

Lucina wanted to cry. Not because she had a dream like that, not at all. She wanted to cry because she wanted to go back to sleep, in hopes she would live those images again.

"It felt so real..."

Oh gods, she had been drooling that entire time. Lucina didn't know what suffered more saliva damage, her pillow or her hair. Ew, the strand of her hair was so sticky it wasn't even funny! She would have to flip her pillow over if she were to rest her head there again, but Lucina was not going back to sleep, even if that was what she wanted to do. First because it was already morning and she had a big day ahead of her, what with the opening ceremony being today and she had to be in her top condition to be there and have her first real battle.

And second, because she had much to think.

She stretched her back, the bones making cackling sounds that made her wince, and then got out of her messed up bed. Lucina went to the bathroom to wash her face and comb her hair, hoping that the part where she drooled on would look a little better after it.

"Why must she mess up with my head like this?"

She splashed some water on her face and searched for her brush. "Why it couldn't have been him?" she muttered. Lucina found what she was looking for in the first drawer under her sink and proceeded on combing her long blue locks, completely distracted, only paying attention to her movements when she encountered a knot or two.

Why must there be two Robins? But even then, if the other Robin didn't exist, would that solve her problem? Would she be interested in Robin, or would she just be… Infatuated with another woman? Lucina took a good look at herself in the mirror and gave a long, disappointed sigh.

Yes, probably yes.

Well, damn.

"You can focus on this later," she told herself. "Concentrate on the tournament and on making amends with Robin."

* * *

**I know this isn't even half of the characters you guys requested, but don't worry. I still plan on including them one way or another, I promise! And I'm not gonna lie, I didn't plan on making Lucina have a dream with Robin and then stop being denial after that. I wanted to make her realization a lot more subtle, buuuut… I kinda wanted to write about Lucina pining for Robin and making out with her and I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry. I'm just not sorry enough to take this part out. By the way, I kinda have written a more nsfw version of this dream, but never posted it because of reasons. I might post it on ao3 someday, so if you actually wanna read it, just send me a PM.**

**Anyway.**

Gamerfan64: **You're going to get those Smashers' appearance, I'm still trying to find the opportunity to include them.**

Guest: **Turns out this Grima is not the same one we're used to and, while not a threat on a global scale, Rob is still in trouble because of him. I think I saw a Palutena x (M) Robin fic one time in the ssb archives. I don't know if it's any good, but you should check it out!**

Smash King24: **I know, I'm also surprised this story is becoming more than a RobXRobin fantasy. I won't deny that I started writing this just because I wanted to see them make out. Rob feels bad for wining, yes, but I hope this chapter explained better why he's been getting progressively worse both mentally and emotionally. ****Meanwhile, Robin's just at loss at what to do. ****I promise I'll try to make Captain Falcon appear more, because really, he's a fun character to write and I'm sad I never get to show him that often in my stories. I hope I can also fit Jigglypuff and bring back King Dedede somehow. ****I know, and thanks to you, I also think FalconxLucina would be a really cute pairing! And Palutenax(insert female Smasher) also is one of my weak points. She works well with pretty much all of them! ****If you remember the name of the MarthxRoy fic, could you tell me? Now I'm curious!**

SmashBrosFan96: **I've never played Paper Mario: TTYD, but I've heard a lot of good thing about this game (and I also knew about the Shadow Queen spoilers). ****Yeah, Lucina's pretty cute, I would do the same thing if it weren't for the fact that she's fictional and that I'm a wuss and can't flirt with anyone to save my life. ****I don't think I've ever heard of Samus/Lucina before.**** Oh, I have two different accounts! My 3DS one says I'm from Brazil, and my Wii U one says I'm from the US (I had to change, unfortunately, because I wasn't able to use my international card ****if my selected region was the US****. My new ****Wii U**** ID is MahNatii) I'll search for you and I'll add you on the Wii U then! The Smash mini direct actually brought more hype than Nintendo's e3 conference. I'm so sad for them.**

LittleBlueBird: **I feel like I've accomplished something, then. So glad to hear thi**s!

MasterHamsters: **Actually, Chrom doesn't exist in this world. In the first chapter it is stated that he's just a projection used in Robin's Final Smash. S****o there will be****n****o Chrom ****in**** this story. ****Okay, you said your Smash OTP is Robin/Lucina, and since I'm going to assume you meant the male Robin, I'm really sorry for the irony in this chapter. **

JV: **Truth be told, this story is heading to a direction not I could have predicted. Can't wait to see how this will turn out either!**

Natia: **Well… I hope you liked reading about Lucina's dream. And the fact that Peach has a thing for Lucina. I don't know if it was your yuri goggles working here, miss, but you were the only one who actually guessed that Lucina had a thing for Robin, and not for Rob. **

Other Guest: **Chrom is just a projection and I'm still unsure what I should make of the Assist Trophies, but adding Ike wouldn't hurt. I'll see what I can do about him!**

Philei: **Oh, I'm glad you like Whitney! And you're not crazy at all! Shulk/Robin has been gaining a lot of fans lately, I've noticed (it's mostly for Shulk/M!Robin, but Shulk/F!Robin also has its fans). I think they would work really well together!**

Yuki2311: **I used black because black has a very negative meaning when it comes to aura and colors. I don't know just how much of it is true, considering color association is something that varies from culture to culture, but it was mostly out of convenience. ****If you like Mac/Samus, there's an artist out there (I think he's called Nintenderp23) that draws some really cute Mac/Samus comic strips. You should check it out.**

**1- ****Yes, there are two Marios. I don't see why there shouldn't be, considering they have different strengths and Doctor Mario has a PhD (I hope). ****There are also two Zeldas, with OoT Zelda battling as Sheik and three Links. But I think there's only one Samus.**

**2- ****I'll check it out sometime. Thanks for the suggestion!**

Anonymous (all three, I have no idea if you are the same person): **Yup, shit's about to hit the fan. I'll make sure everyone who didn't appear in this chapter will make a cameo in the future. I'm really glad you like this story so much that you consider it your personal drug. Don't get an overdose! Shulk is in his corner, dealing with his own problems and Whitney is just enjoying her life, as usual.**

**O****h, wow, that was long. Anyway, question time:**

**-Are there any games you're excited to buy? **

**-****Yaoi, yuri or het?**


	18. The opening ceremony

**I'm sorry for taking longer than I expected. In other news, I've been having ideas for new fanfics, I'm just trying to finish this one first before starting anything new.**

* * *

Rob couldn't remember the last time he saw so many Smashers gathered together since the meeting they had to introduce themselves to each other a few months ago, so the simple notion of there being that many Smashers participating in the tournament did get him by surprise.

"Wow, to think that there are so many Smashers," he heard Robin comment by his side. "I'm getting kind of nervous."

He could only nod. They were currently waiting in a large room located underground the stadium where the opening ceremony was being held. The room had various sofas and cushions, a free buffet table at the very far side from the entrance and a giant TV screen that showed how everything was going outside at the stadium. Rob wondered if it this place was spacious since the beginning, or if Master Hand had made it grow large over the years to accommodate more fighters, because he sincerely doubted he would just the twelve original Smashers that competed there in the first tournament. What he knew it was that that room was mostly unused and only got any attention when ceremonies were being held in the stadium.

Those poor Miis who had to clean this place when it was time to use it. He hoped their paycheck was worth braving through all the dust.

Rob had no intentions of eating anything at the buffet, as he had no intentions of getting in the middle of Yoshi, Kirby and Pac-Man while they chomped down anything edible there. He hoped that Mario, who was currently trying to pull Yoshi and Pac-Man away from the food didn't hurt himself in the process. He actually just wanted to find somewhere to sit, as it would take a while until his name was going to get called. Yet, all the seats and cushions were already taken and he didn't want to bother anyone. He found it kind of unfair, because two of the sofas were solely occupied by the Villagers, who kept trading food and other goodies in between them. Only the Villager in the red shirt (he had no idea what his name was) was going to present himself in the opening ceremony.

At least it was better than having the Koopalings hogging the sofas. Maybe it was for the best that they were currently occupied arguing between themselves over who deserved the title of official Smasher, than causing any sort of mischief.

His eyes fell upon Lucina, who was lucky enough to get a space on one of the sofas for herself. She was chatting idly with Peach, both princesses looking rather happy. For a moment, Lucina had spotted him standing at the other corner of the room and her happy demeanor seemed to have falter, but that didn't last long as she went back to talking to Peach as if nothing had happened.

"Hey, good luck out there," Robin said, bringing him back to reality.

"Wish you could go with me though," he said.

"Don't worry about me," she waved her hand. "Just go out there and give a good impression for both of us."

How much he wished he could reassure her he would. Rob was just so tired...

The TV screen showed Master Hand floating in the middle of the Big Battlefield making a speech to the now quiet crowd of fans. It was a pretty standard one, with him saying how happy he was to be able to host yet another tournament, how it meant a lot to him and the fans. Really, all that good, sentimental stuff. Two gigantic screens that had been showing footage from previous tournaments floated above him, while the band responsible for the music stood quietly in the background of the stage.

Rob found it kind of interesting to see how the Smashers reacted to that. The ones who seemed to be paying attention to Master Hand's speech were mostly full-time veterans, who had been in the business since the beginning, and the slight majority of the newcomers. Yet, most Smashers were just minding their own business.

Well, most full-time veterans were trying to pay attention anyway. Samus was having a hard time paying attention to their host's speech, as she had to deal with a very excited Palutena pestering her, while Pit and Dark Pit stood awkwardly by their side. She kept poking her cheeks, since her face was the only part of her body that wasn't covered by her orange metal suit, and jumping around her, pretty much excited for the fact that their first official fight in the tournament was a team battle. Despite all of that, Samus still let a begrudging smile at her and grabbed her arm for her to quiet down. They seemed to be very good friends.

Oh, Palutena kissed her.

Never mind.

Rob decided to diverge his attention to another place, then. More specifically, he looked at the little puffball that stood bellow him, staring at both him and Robin with bright green eyes.

"Jigglypuff, hey," he greeted, making Robin also turn her head to the little Pokemon.

"(Hey.)"

"How are you doing?" Robin asked.

"(Doing great, nothing to complain,)" Jigglypuff said, casually and kicking her flat foot on the floor. "(Listen, my first match will be with one of you, so...)"

"Oh, right," Rob said all of a sudden. "Our – I mean – My first match is against you, right? I almost forgot."

"(You almost forgot?)" she eyed him with disdain. "(Not exactly the best thing to say to your first official opponent. It shows incompetency. You're not going to last if you keep forgetting which people you're going to face against.)"

Robin didn't like that look of hers, yet preferred to not mention it. "So, is there anything you want?" she asked instead.

"(Nah, I just came by to see how you're doing. Also, because I've never seen you guys in battle, so I was wondering if you were going to be the new Ice Climbers. I can see that that's not the case, and thanks Arceus for that! My job became a lot easier like this,)" Jigglypuff took another good look at Rob. "(Wow, you look so tired. I guess you really need a good rest.)"

Rob and Robin both tilted their head at the now giggling Jigglypuf, wondering just what in the world the puffball wanted with that. She waved her goodbyes and walked towards Kirby, wondering if she still could grab some food or if she was too late.

"I wish I understood Pokemon sometimes," he said. "Other than Lucario, that is."

"Something tells me that you're better off not knowing..."

Finally, the time when Master Hand was about to call the Smashers to the Big Battlefield was getting close. As per tradition, he would first call the names of the full-time veterans, going then for Melee veterans, going through the Brawl veterans and finally settling on the newcomers. The twelve original Smashers left the room and the other Smashers prepared themselves.

Rob got off from the wall where he rested and started to head to the door once he saw that the time when the newcomers would be called was close.

"Alright, time to go," Robin squeezed his hand and gave reassuring smile. "You can do it."

"Heh, thanks," he kissed her temple and walked to the group of newcomers near the door.

As he walked, he was spotted by Lucina, who immediately walked towards him with an uncertain expression on her face. "Hello, Robin," she said, rather shyly.

"Hi."

"Listen, could we perhaps talk?" she asked. "I know I'm not the person you want to see the most at the moment, but..."

"Can't we wait until the ceremony is over?" he whispered.

"No, because I know you're going back to the other Robin once everything is over. I want to talk to you alone."

"Do you really have to keep calling her the other Robin?" he asked in irritation. "It's annoying."

"Well, I must differentiate you somehow," crossed her arms. "And you know I cannot bring myself to call you Rob. It doesn't feel right."

"I know you're not fond of nicknames, but can't make an effort to call her by another name?"

"… Fine, I shall call her Robbi, if that makes you happy," she shook her head. "Anyway, I..."

A young Mii wearing a set of headphones suddenly entered the room, switching glances between the group of newcomers and the clipboard that she carried. She gestured for the Smashers to follow her, so she would guide them to the room with the transporters that would make them appear in the Battlefield. The Smashers that were considered alternative stood behind, turning their attention to the TV screen that now broadcast the introduction of the Brawl veterans.

They walked through a wide corridor, its thick walls and ceiling not being enough to muffle the sounds from the crowd cheering from the arch benches above them. Rob wondered just how much he should brace himself for the overwhelming cheers once he stepped out in the Battlefield, but he took consolation in knowing that he wasn't the only one nervous, if he took in consideration the general atmosphere between the newcomers.

"There are so many people out there," Whitney gave a nervous grin. "I hope I don't screw everything up."

"If you don't care about what other people might think about you, then there's no reason to be nervous," Dark Pit stated.

"But I care!"

"Then it's your problem."

"(What bug bit you today?)" Greninja glared at him. "(Not everyone can be an apathetic jerk like you.)"

"You will be fine, Whitney," Rosalina said in her usual calm tone. "Think about all the other Smashers. If they've managed to make it through, then so can you."

Rob took a deep breath. Right, if anyone else could do it, then so could he. He just wished his eyelids weren't so heavy. Apparently, Lucina also noticed that, because she had a concerned look on her face, one that she usually had when he would spend nights without sleeping, trying to formulate strategies for the next battle. She slowed her steps down and grabbed Rob's arm, making him also slow down so both could walk a little further behind the group.

"You haven't been sleeping," she whispered.

"Not because I wanted to," he whispered back.

"Is it because of her?"

"You mean Robin? No, she hasn't been the reason I stay up at night... Recently, that is," he wanted to laugh at how flustered Lucina appeared to become with that statement, yet couldn't gather the energy to do so. "I'm just having trouble sleeping, that's all."

"Well, anyway," she took a deep breath. "Robin, I'm sorry for..."

She was cut off by the sight of Shulk abruptly stopping on his tracks, as if he had just come across a wall and had no idea where to go next.

"Shulk?" she asked as both she and Rob walked towards him. "Is everything alright?"

His blue eyes were glowing and looked at no place in particular, while his mouth was slightly agape, like he was in some sort of trance.

"Shulk?" Rob called.

"A-Ah..." he blinked a few times as his mind came back to reality. He shook his head and looked at Rob with fearful eyes. "Rob..."

"Y-Yes?"

"I saw vision of you and..."

Shulk was interrupted by a light tapping on his head. The three swordsmen looked up and saw the little yellow Luma floating above them, waving its stubby arms frenetically.

"Hurry up, hurry up!" it squeaked. "Everyone's way up ahead and they have already called Villager. Soon it will be your turn!"

They rushed to where the group stood, each one silently promising they would continue once the opening ceremony was over.

* * *

Back at the waiting room, Robin watched the rest of the opening ceremony from the comfort of one of the sofas with Will seated by her side. Both were quietly cheering and hoping their respective loved ones would do a great entrance. Alph treated himself with the food that was miraculously still at the buffet and not at the stomach of constantly starving Smashers, while both Villagers and Koopalings chatted between themselves and payed attention to the screen every once in a while.

"Wow, looking at all these people in the crowd makes me kind of happy that I'm not the default trainer," Will commented. "Whitney is far more outgoing. I don't think I could handle all the pressure."

"Maybe you could," Robin said, eyes fixed on the TV. "Don't think like that."

"_**Wii Fit Trainer!**_" the voice in the screen boomed.

"Ah, there she is!"

At the sight of his wife entering the stage on her Wii Fit board, Will sat up straight and watched her wave her hands and gesture for the crowd in a way that she promised she would do her best in the tournament. So far, the reception seemed to be warm and the Miis clapped and cheered for the yoga instructor. Whitney stretched her shoulders and made a tree pose, always wearing a smile on her face, before walking to the background, where Mega Man and Villager stood.

"She did pretty well!"

"Did you see that?" Will said with joy. "They love her! They are really rooting for her! Go, Whitney!"

"You mean rooting for both of you, right?" Robin asked, giving in to his happiness. It was just too adorable to see someone who usually seemed to calm and serious like Will celebrating like that.

"Oh, right, that too," he slumped over the couch. "I don't know what they think about me, but at least they are welcoming her."

As Master Hand called for Rosalina, Alph decided to join the duo by jumping over the couch and landing by Robin's side.

"I wish I was there," he mumbled. "If Master Hand had just given me a chance to prove myself..."

"That's rough, buddy," Robin replied with sympathy.

"What are you to Olimar, Alph?" Will asked. "Friend? Brother?"

"Nothing," he shook his head. "Olimar and I are not related at all. I've never even heard of him before! We just share the same slot because we both use Pikmin."

"Maybe that's why he put you together?" the trainer suggested.

"You don't see him putting all the sword users into one slot, do you? I still don't like how he brushed my existence aside. It's like I don't matter to him," he sighed. "Maybe on the next tournament..."

"Maybe on the next tournament."

"_**Robin!**_"

Robin turned her full attention to the TV, waving her hand at the other two Smashers and asking for them to quiet down. Her eyes lit up once she saw her lover appearing at the stage, bronze sword in one hand and his thunder tome in another. He swung his sword around and pointed it upwards, in a surprising demonstration of confidence that Robin couldn't see in his eyes a few minutes ago. He waved his hand and bowed to the crowd, his movements swift and graceful, the complete opposite of how he had arrived in that room she was in.

Honestly, his presentation turned out a lot better than both of them expected, Robin couldn't get any happier for him. She saw Rob walk away towards the growing number of newcomers in the back, giving way for Lucina to appear in the same fashion as his next. She couldn't care less about her at the moment, yet she still paid attention because Shulk would be called next.

After Lucina left, Shulk's name was announced and the boy appeared in the stage accordingly. He showed off the Monado to the crowd and raised his fist right after that. Robin didn't know if it was her impression or not, but Shulk seemed sort of distracted, what with him not giving any sort of expression and didn't seem to be looking at any direction in particular. Yet, maybe she was just imagining things. The crowd, drunk in their own happiness, obviously didn't seem to pay any attention to those subtle details.

"Hey, you think it's okay to go back to the hotel now?" Roy, the only Koopaling that had actually been paying attention to the opening ceremony, asked. He laid on his stomach on the floor, watching the TV while he swung his legs in the air.

"Don't you want to wait until it's finished?" Will asked.

"It's not like Master Hand will need me here now. My first fight will be only in two days and I'm sure nobody will mind."

"What about Bowser?"

Roy got up and stretched his arms. "Eh, he doesn't need me at the moment either," he adjusted his dark glasses and headed tot he door. "This is boring. I'm outta here."

Well, Robin had to give it Roy on that. Being just a secondary Smasher made it a lot easier for them to escape some responsibilities if they were not in the mood of dealing with them. She didn't need to stay until the end. If her position in the charts dropped, the one who would take the blame would be Rob and she had less battles and less pressure to do well in the tournament as well.

Yet, because of it, she was not considered his equal anymore. Robin was no more than a shadow of him because of that. If Master hand suddenly decided that having Smashers sharing fighter slots wasn't a practical idea, he would get rid of her and all of the secondary Smashers without even thinking.

Not to mention her paycheck was lower than his because of it.

She would rather have all those responsibilities than be in that position, if she were to be honest with herself.

Ugh.

"Robin?" Will asked,

"What?"

"You heard what I said?"

"Got lost in thought, sorry."

"It's okay. I was wondering if you knew where we should meet everyone once the opening ceremony was over," he said, not taking his eyes off from the screen. "I asked Whitney, but she was a lost as I was."

"Good question," she rested her elbows on her knees. "Well, Rob said he would meet me at the stadium's entrance, so maybe Whitney will be there too."

"Won't it be too crowded?" the mere thought of all those Miis that were currently cheering at the arch benches gathered at the entrance sent a shiver down his spine.

"Not really. I heard that it's tradition to have Mario, Link, Kirby and Pikachu have a battle at the end of the ceremony. Everyone else is free to go meanwhile and most of the Miis stay to watch."

They saw the Villagers and Koopalings preparing to leave, all pretty much bored out of their skulls. Alph also didn't feel like staying much more and got off from the couch, waving his goodbyes to both Robin and Will before following Ludwig and Wendy to the exit.

Well, they didn't want to be the only ones there.

"Let's go," Robin said as both her and Will got up.

* * *

Once everything was done, Rob left with the other Smashers towards the entrance, some walking way up ahead, while others decided to go back to the waiting room because they wanted to see the battle between Mario, Link, Kirby and Pikachu happen. Lucina quickly caught up with him, as well as Shulk, who still looked rather distraught from his vision from before.

"Robin, do you have time now?" she asked.

"Lucina, perhaps I should talk first," Shulk interrupted her. "It's kind of important that he knows this."

"Are you sure?" Lucina frowned. "Because..."

"Ah, Robin!" Rob said, now walking ahead of them. "There you are!"

"Seriously?" Lucina muttered under her breath.

"Rob, wait!"

They rushed towards the now reuniting tacticians, both wondering how they would approach him now that he was with Robin. Shulk thought their relationship was kind of cute and all, but by Bionis, it could get in the way sometimes! Yet, maybe that was not a bad thing, as Robin also deserved to hear what he had to say.

Lucina, on the other hand, just wanted her to go away. She wanted to deal with both Robins separately and they were not making her job easier.

"You were amazing out there!" Robin said in excitement. "And you thought you were going to screw it up. I told you you had to have more confidence in your abilities."

"Yeah, of course," he let out a yawn. "Really amazing..."

"Rob?"

"Sorry, I'm just," he let out another yawn and rubbed his face with the palms of his hands. "Tired, so tired."

"H-Hey, don't fall asleep here!"

"Maybe we should go back to the hotel," Shulk suggested.

Lucina simply frowned, but nodded with her head. It wasn't as if Robin would listen to her right now in the sorry state that he was in. He really should get some rest. Besides, he wasn't the only one she needed to talk to anyway. She just wanted to mentally prepare herself better for that.

The four Smashers left the stadium and went to the nearest subway station, taking advantage that outside it was relatively calm due to most of the fans still being inside the building and that it would be way cheaper than getting a cab. Robin and Shulk mostly chit-chatted with Rob, in hopes to keep him more awake, while Lucina kept walking a few steps behind. Not enough to raise any questions, but just enough to avoid having to get in the middle of mindless conversation.

Oh, she really didn't want to do this. She wanted the guilt to go away, yes, but she really didn't want to face Robbi (oh gods, did it feel awkward to call her that), not after all the things she said. She didn't want to…

When did they arrive at the hotel so quickly?

Did she really get so lost in thought that she didn't see time pass?

"Okay, he's sleeping now. His first fight will be in five hours. Hopefully he will get some rest until there," Robin mumbled as she left her and Rob's room. "What do you want Lucina?"

Wait, what? Everything was happening way too fast, she needed more time to prepare herself! Where did Shulk even go? He probably said he was leaving and Lucina didn't even realize it. Here she was, planted in front of Robin and Robbi's door, wanting to sort out her feelings to her and she didn't even know where to begin.

And she better find something to say, because Robbi's impatient look was seriously making her even worse.

"I..."

The tactician raised an eyebrow.

"Could we perhaps talk at another place?" she asked, her voice rather meek. "It's really something I need to say to you completely alone."

Lucina waited for a reaction, but Robin simply stared at her with wary eyes.

"Please, R-Robin," she almost bit her tongue at that. "I owe you an apology and… There are a few things I need to explain to you."

"Are you really going to apologize?" Robin asked, feeling suspicious. "You're not just going to throw more insults or act coldly towards me like always, are you?"

"I can assure you I won't."

Robin sighed. Did she really have the energy to put up with Lucina at the moment?

"Fine. Let's get this over with."

She could see a glimpse of relief in those blue eyes of hers and a very small smile on her lips. Lucina could have such pretty eyes when they weren't being so serious. Robin hoped it was worth her time.

* * *

**It's 4 AM here and I have no idea what I'm doing with my life. About last chapter's question (the yaoi, yuri or het), I was really curious and also wanted to know if the pairings I've include so far made you guy roll your eyes or enjoy it. It's of hard to explain. I find it kind of interesting that most of you answered that you don't like yaoi much, but can enjoy it if it's really well done. Anyway, not much happened in this chapter, but I really needed to find a way to get Robin and Lucina to be alone.**

**In an unrelated note, I'm just so happy that Roy and Lucas returned. I've been having so much playing as them and Roy's just so strong!**

**On another unrelated note, Fire Emblem Fates allows you same sex marriage and I couldn't be happier and more frustrated with it! I want to side with Nohr so badly, I just thought their storyline sounds a lot more interesting and I like the overall Nohrian aesthetic more. BUT, if I want to marry a girl using a female avatar, I'll have to side with Hoshido, because the girl I can marry is there. It's just… No, no! Let me marry a girl at the Nohr side! Please! Inteligent Systems, why do you do this to me?!**

Anonymous: **I've played Soul Calibur 5 once and it was fun. I'm just not very good at fighting games that aren't Smash (and even in Smash, I'm just decent). Like I said, I made the question just to have a general idea what kind of pairings you guys liked. It was for science. I'm glad you like what I did with these three characters!**

JV: **I know. I wonder what's gonna happen to him too!**

Natia: **Side pairings are really fun to write about, even if they are not pairings yet. Don't lose hope.**

SmashBrosFan96: **Glad you made an account. Yeah, Captain Falcon's first name is Douglas. Sometimes even I forget this. If Rob doesn't get enough sleep he can get some serious health problems, so yeah, they better find a solution soon. I'm also really excited for Mario and Luigi Paper Jam! I'm a big fan of the Mario &amp; Luigi series, so I can't wait to see how this game will turn out! ****I think you're the only person I've seen who wants Krystal back (or I've been talking to my friend and got used to him complaining about Krystal).**

Smash King24: **I toy with your emotions as a payback for "It Came from Lucina's Head". ****You're welcome! Actually, that's a pretty good guess on what Little Mac and Bowser were arguing about. Don't mind if I borrow your idea! I can imagine Lucina feeling this sense of guilt exactly because she grew up in an environment ****where same sex dating was discouraged. That's why she was in denial and avoiding Robin all this time. I can imagine her trying to force herself to like Rob because if she was feeling something for Robin, then surely she could feel something for him, right? It didn't work. I'm also pretty excited for Fire Emblem Fates, ****despite my complaining above****! ****Well, I'm pretty sure Smash would have less yaoi if they decided to include more female characters. At least the new game has more girls now!**

MasterHamsters: **Oh, cool, then I'm glad you liked it then! ****I'll tell you if I decide to post that one shot, don't worry.**

Makokam: **At least the new Star Fox seems to offer enough stuff, right? I didn't mean that, but Lego is always fun. I wrote that line about Rob running off with Shulk just for shits and giggles, it was all in Lucina's dream, so you don't need to think too much about it. It makes as much sense as saying that Rob was having an affair with Dark Pit. I'll try to handle time skips better, thanks for pointing that out. I guess that I wanted to cut one week forward so much that I didn't think if people would be confused with that skip. ****Yeah, I didn't want her to keep denying it anymore. One hour you just kind of know and say "well, shit, I like people of the same sex". ****Link's with Zelda, they are in a happy and committed relationship.**

SonicRomance15: **Thanks a lot! I'm glad you like this fic!**

Bighat12: **I know right? I was really frustrated that most fanfics didn't have them interact with each other that much. I mean, I can understand Fire Emblem fics, but Smash fics? Come on, guys, the opportunity is right there! ****I didn't make that up, his name is really Douglas. ****Well, we all make mistakes, I'm sure Master Hand is no different. I think nobody saw that dream sequence coming. I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing, to be honest. **

NitroTheKidd: **You don't need to silently stalk this story. You can loudly stalk it, I would appreciate it a lot. That's not demanding at all! I'll keep that in mind! ****I don't think I understand ****though****. You came into this fic expecting to find Shobin in it, or you just stumbled upon it while you searched for Shobin fics? Anyway, thanks for sticking around!**

Yuki2311: **I'm going to steal Smash's idea and say that they were arguing about who was the best "giga" Smasher. Case closed. Nope, we'll never get a battle of epic proportions between Grima and Master Core, sorry to disappoint you. But that would be pretty cool, ****I****'ll give you that. ****Yeah, truth be told, I enjoy yaoi, yuri and het, if you could have already guessed. Oddly enough, my least favorite is het. ****Persona 5 looks pretty cool! And I can't take the Shin Megami Tensei X Fire Emblem game seriously after looking at demon Chrom. I just can't. The Final Fantasy VII remake trailer was really vague, I don't know how people could get hyped up for such a short vague trailer. **

**1- Roy's my boy and Ryu is an op animal and I'm very afraid of him. My frie****nd**** said that they made him stay true to the original Ryu, so I can see why Street Fighter fans (you) are happy.**

**2- ****I would like to see Medusa, Shantae, Banjo/Kaz****o****oie and ****NiGHTS! Especially NiGHTS, because my love for his/her games is just unreal. **

**I ****only have one question thi****s time:**

**A****re you a fan of AUs?**


	19. Sleeping on the competition

**One of these days I'll name each and every chapter of this fic. Getting really tired of not coming up with punny names for them.**

* * *

Of all places she could have expected to end up in, Robin shouldn't be surprised that Lucina decided to make them talk in her room. After all, what place was more reserved than her own place? Robin would feel more awkward over being inside her room for the first time if it wasn't for the fact that she was too occupied feeling bitter towards her.

"I understand that I'm not exactly the first person you want to talk to at the moment," Lucina began, sitting by her bed.

"No, not really," it was as if Robbi's eyes pierced through her soul (gods, maybe she should stop trying to call her that). "What, with you saying that I shouldn't have been born and that my existence was a bother to you."

"I may have exaggerated my words… A lot."

"You _may_?!"

"I mean, I know I have exaggerated my words. I didn't intend for things to blow out of proportion."

"Just because you didn't intend to, it doesn't mean it didn't hurt."

"I know! What I mean to say is," Lucina took a deep breath. "I'm sorry, Robin. I really am. You deserve to exist in this world just as much as everyone here."

For a moment there wasn't a reaction from either women. Robin just kept staring down at her, as if silently asking if that was all. Oh, how Lucina wish she could say that. Apologizing was not the worse part.

"Anyway," she coughed. "I owe you an explanation for my… Behavior."

"So..."

"I don't even know where to begin, to be honest."

"You can start by explaining why you hate me so much?"

"No! Oh, please, Robin, I do not hate you!" she exclaimed, taking Robin by surprise. "I mean, I understand why you think otherwise, considering all the things I said to you last week and by the way I've been acting around you, but I don't hate you."

"Oh, wow, then I'm really afraid of how you treat the people you actually don't like," she replied, sarcastically.

She really was not making things easier for her. Lucina never knew Robbi could have the same amount of sarcasm Robin had, but she also shouldn't be that surprised by that revelation.

"The reason why I treated you the way I did this entire time it was because I wanted to avoid you," she revealed, making the tactician raise an eyebrow. "No, it wasn't because I loathed you. But it was more… Ugh, I don't know if I can actually say this," she stuffed her face in her hands, her cheeks burning with embarrassment. "This is not going as I expected. I had all the dialogue made up in my head! But I can't..."

She could feel Robin sitting by her side, making her even more nervous and with less motivation to look her in the eye.

"Just take your time," Lucina heard her say, a hint of uneasiness clear in her voice.

"Right..."

They stood like that for a good ten seconds, before Lucina took another deep breath, trying to regain her confidence.

"Robin, the reason why I've been avoiding you for a long time is because I was afraid of getting close to you," she confessed with a pang on her heart.

"Why?"

"At first I didn't understand either, considering how close Robin and I are," the princess brought her hands close to her chest. "But then I began to notice my reactions when I was close to you. Whenever you tried speaking to me or act friendly, I would get this warm feeling and feel my face getting hotter."

"Uh..."

"And I constantly caught myself thinking about you and… Well, you just wouldn't leave my thoughts sometimes. It was driving me mad and just made me want to stay away from you. And I just couldn't understand why I never felt this way near Robin! It was just you!"

"Okay..." Robin rubbed her arm. "So, what you mean to tell me is that..."

"I lo- I mean, I'm infatuated with you," she clutched her clothes even more. "A lot."

"Oh."

That was it? A simple oh? Lucina was pouring her feelings out to her and that's all the answer she would get? Robin just kept staring at the wall in complete silence, making each second that passed an agony to Lucina.

"But back then when Rob told you I had a crush on you, you told me you were not interested," Robin said, her mind still confused with the revelation.

"Not that I was not interested," she felt a lump forming on her throat. "Just that we couldn't be together."

"Where's the difference in that?"

"It's complicated… I was kind of unconsciously expecting for you to assure me that there was nothing wrong. To give me the right push."

"You were expecting me to convince you that we should date?! Is that why you got mad at me for not actually being interested in you?!"

"Yes?"

"Lucina, I can't even..." Robin paused, trying to regain her thoughts. "I mean, that's a surprisingly toxic way of thinking from your part. I never would have expected this from you."

"You know what's really toxic? Growing up learning that loving certain kind of people is unnatural and that there's something wrong with you if you do," Lucina mumbled, still clutching her chest tightly. "Anyway, I know it was a foolish thought. In retrospect, there is no reason for me to have shouted at you like that, especially for a such a stupid motive."

"I see..."

"O-Once again, I'm truly sorry for all the trouble I've caused. I was frustrated and confused, but that doesn't give me an excuse for my behavior."

Robin clutched the sleeve of her coat. "Well, Rob did lie to you about my feelings, even if he didn't do it with malicious intentions," she said, now avoiding eye contact. "And after everything you told me, I can understand why you would shout like that."

"Still..."

"Sometimes our emotions get the best of us, it's completely normal," she tried to smile, but couldn't gather the energy to do so. "It's okay, Lucina. I forgive you."

"Thank you."

They still couldn't gather the courage to look at each other in the eye, both of them preferring to sit there in silence and trying to digest the conversation they just had. Robin expected anything but that sort of confession from her, but was surprised that she didn't feel as surprised by it as she would normally be. Lucina, on the other hand, just wanted all of that to be over, but didn't know how to finish that conversation off smoothly.

It felt like an eternity until one of them decided to say something.

"Anyway, that was all that I wanted to say," Lucina said, giving a subtle glance at her. "If you want to avoid me now, I will understand completely."

"No, no, it's okay. Really," she bit her lower lip. "Listen, I think I need to go now. Will you be alright?"

"I will."

"Good."

Robin got up from her bed and walked towards the door, only to stop on her tracks once her hand reached the doorknob. With a sigh, she turned around to face the swordswoman, who now stared absentmindedly at the carpeted floor. "Lucina," she called, bringing Lucina's attention to her. "I'm… Really sorry for not being able to help you. I just... Can't correspond your feelings."

"There's no need to be sorry. I didn't expect anything different."

"Well, take care."

"You too."

Lucina let go of her breath once she saw Robin leaving, flopping with her back on the bed while she took in the loneliness. There, she finally did it. She told Robin everything and had nothing else to hide from her and herself. It could have gone better, but it could have gone so much worse. Maybe now Lucina could finally get some peace of mind.

She just needed to ignore the burning sensation in her throat and the warm tears that prickled down from her tightly shut eyes.

* * *

Rob woke up from his sleep and slowly sat up on his bed. For the first time in days he had a somewhat peaceful nap without having to suffer through horrible nightmares and he couldn't be more thankful for having a dreamless sleep. However, he still didn't feel any better, just with the dreadful feeling that he should be out there doing something. He checked his alarm clock and suddenly it hit him why he felt that way.

Oh, right! He had a battle against Jigglypuff in one hour. That was why there was a little icon in the alarm's screen showing that it would set off in ten minutes.

He turned it off since he didn't need the alarm anymore and went to the bathroom to wash his face. He still had those dark circles in his eyes, but they were smaller. Not to mention his headache from the lack of sleep also got a little better. Once he was ready, he grabbed his coat in the hanger next to his wardrobe and left the room, wondering what he could do to pass the time while he waited.

Rob decided to head earlier to the stadium, since he knew there was a small shopping mall not even two squares from there, meaning he could find a way to pass the time there. Maybe eat a snack, or some other thing. He honestly didn't want to be around anyone for the time being, not even Robin. He wanted some time to enjoy his loneliness.

But of course he wouldn't get what he wanted.

"Oh, Robin! Hey!"

Rob spotted Ike standing outside of a small record store, waving his hand at him. He couldn't just ignore him, so the tactician walked towards the mercenary with a fake smile on his face. He hoped Ike was in for small talk, really.

"Didn't expect to find you here, Ike," Rob said, as amicably as he could.

"Well, I didn't expect to find you here too."

"Pit wanted to pass by the record shop after our fight, so I decided to accompany him."

As if on a cue, the two saw the angel leaving the record store with a plastic bag in hands and humming a song Rob couldn't remember ever hearing it.

"Hey, Robin!" Pit chirped. "What are you doing here?"

"Waiting for my fight against Jigglypuff," he explained, kicking off an invisible rock. "It will be on the Kalos League stage and I don't look forward to it at all."

"Yeah, that stage can be a real pain," Pit said in sympathy, remembering that one time he lost to Marth due to a giant blade falling on his head.

"At least the items will be turned off," Ike tried to comfort him.

"Oh, you said you're fighting against Jigglypuff, right?" Pit pipped in. "You want an advice? Watch out for when she starts to sing near you. She'll try to put you to sleep and then nothing good comes out from this."

"She'll try to kick me out, right?"

"She'll use rest on you, man," the angel shivered. "It's just her deadliest attack ever!"

"Yeah, Jigglypuff's no slouch. She has been participating in these tournaments since the beginning for a reason," Ike agreed.

"You guys are not helping at all..."

"No, hear me out," Pit quickly said. "She's easy to knock out AND she is always trying to go for a disrespectful kill. More than half of her defeats happened because she tried to do something stupid and awesome."

"So all I need to do is try to get a read on how she's fighting and it will be easy to punish her, right?"

"If you can punish her by forcing her to get knocked out because of her own mistake, you'll win for sure."

"That's good to know," Rob mumbled. "Thank you. I'll make sure to remember your words."

"I could go for some ice cream," Pit said all of a sudden. "Ike, you promised you'd buy me one if I won."

"Really? You want it now?"

"I want to eat it while my victory still feels fresh," he said with a cheeky grin.

"Fine," he rolled his eyes. "Robin, you coming with us?"

"My battle will start soon," he said, silently assuring himself that that technically wasn't a lie. "I better get at the stadium."

"Suit yourself," Pit shrugged his shoulders and walked on ahead. "Come on, Ike!"

Ike groaned but followed him, knowing there was no way he could make Pit forget the promise of free ice cream. Robin took that as his opportunity to sneak away and finally find some peace for himself. Maybe it would be better if he headed to the stadium.

* * *

"He left already? Really?" Robin said in exasperation once she entered the room and found no one there.

Rob could have waited for her. But maybe she should have told him she wanted to accompany him on his way to the stadium. Still, he could also have asked if she wanted. Or maybe just said a goodbye or, really, anything that wasn't just leaving the hotel without a word.

He had been so distant these days.

"He could have said something..."

Well, no reason in crying over things that already happened. She could always watch the match from the TV. Grabbing a pack of chips, Robin sat down on her bed and turned the TV on with the remote she found on the head desk. She lazily surfed the few channel options until she stumbled upon the one that was doing the official coverage of the tournament. The screen showed Olimar locked in a very campy battle against Fox, with him throwing his Pikmin, while Fox alternate between using his reflector and shooting him with his laser gun. Honestly, it looked more of a chore than a fun battle. Robin never thought she would be sorry for both opponents at the same time.

Rob's battle would happen in a few minutes, so she decided to stay put, watching other Smasher's battles until then.

* * *

Things could be better, but then again, they could have been a lot worse.

Rob cursed under his breath as Jigglypuff shielded yet another Arcfire spell, ready to roll out as soon as he got close to her.

"(Wow, you can be so predictable sometimes,)" Jigglypuff taunted.

He really didn't like that tone of voice.

The two Smashers were now at their third and last battle. Unlike in unofficial matches where winning just once was enough, in order to pass the ranks the Smashers had to face against each other in best out of three battles. So far, Rob had won the first match by taking her last stock live by throwing her at the direction of the falling giant blade of the stage, while Jigglypuff won the second fight simply by putting him to sleep while a massive stream of water came towards them, caring Rob away while she seek protection on one of the hanging platforms.

Pit and Ike weren't kidding. Jigglypuff really was in for nasty and humiliating kills.

The pressure was now high due to both being at a very high percentage of damage, meaning one mistake could be fatal. Sure, they still had each two stock lives, but that didn't mean much when every mistake could cost the match.

If only he could get her to stand on the ground for more than two seconds, he could try using Nosferatu on her. Yet she kept jumping and floating all around him, trying to kick him in the face and stomach, not giving him any chance to recharge his tome.

"Oh, no, you won't!" he shouted, activating his shield once Jigglypuff tried to kick him once more. Once she lowered her guard, he took the opportunity to trap her with his Celica's Gale tome. Rob added more damage to the already beaten up Pokemon and then threw her backwards, managing to get a K.O.

Jigglypuff re spawned on the stage five seconds later, completely healed and completely infuriated. What an underwhelming way to lose a life! The Pokemon jumped out of the platform that brought her back and floated towards the ledge, peaking Robin's curiosity, who had been taking those seconds to charge his thunder tome. What could she wanted from that?

"(Come on...)" she murmured, twirling around as if taunting him. "(Just do it...)"

Unknowingly, Rob took her bait and ran straight towards her, ready to grab her once more in hopes that she activated her shield, thinking that he was going for a dash attack. She jumped right out of the way just in time to avoid being grabbed. It was only when she opened her mouth that Rob realized the terrible mistake he made.

Jigglypuff started to sing, her soothing voice making his eyes get drowsy and his legs start to feel heavy. Rob tried to cover his ears, but it was too late. In less than three seconds, he fell asleep on the ground, unable to defend himself from the now snickering Pokemon. Jigglypuff grabbed the ledge before she could fall off and floated back to the stage, rubbing her tiny paws in preparation.

"(Well, Robin,)" she said in glee. "(Let me take care of the rest!)"

* * *

"**And there we have it, folks. Robin is down to one stock and now the battle is tied.**"

Robin winced at the sight of her lover being brutally thrown out of the stage by Jigglypuff's deadly rest attack. The fairy type Pokemon could be incredibly dangerous, despite her cute and baby like appearance. The commentators on the TV also weren't helping the situation at all, praising Jigglypuff and telling how much they think she had improved since Brawl. "**She can literally kill you in her sleep**," they kept saying, laughing it away, like they haven't seen her doing that a million times before. Classic Jigglypuff.

She nervously munched on her chip, hoping Rob could get the upper hand with this last stock. Jigglypuff's attacks were deadly, but easy to read and punish. He just needed to be careful.

Her free hand clutched the bed sheets in anticipation, wondering what Rob had in plan once he jumped out of the platform. She saw him charging his tome, judging by the sparks that burst through its pages. Jigglypuff tried to stop him by faking him out, pretending that she would headbutt him, only to roll out of the way once he broke his concentration to pull out his shield.

Even, when he was safe, Rob still had his shield up.

"What are you doing?" she asked quietly, clutching the bed sheet even harder. "Your shield is getting smaller, Rob. Stop wasting it!"

As if hearing her pleas, Rob deactivated his shield, yet did nothing else. Robin furrowed her eyebrows as she saw Jigglypuff floating towards him and giving a back air kick on his stomach, knocking him down. She got even more worried as Jigglypuff gave no time for him to get up and kicked him again.

Rob didn't react. He just let go of his tome and kept clutching his head, digging his fingers in his white locks, almost ripping them off from his scalp.

"Uh-oh, looks like Robin is having some troubles there," the shorter Mii that was shown on a side window on the screen said.

Something wasn't right.

* * *

Get out, get out, get out!

"(H-Hey, HEY! What is wrong with you?!)" Jigglypuff exclaimed.

Rob kept writhing on the floor, repeating the phrase "get out" while he clutched his head for his dear life. Jigglypuff was at loss at what to do. Should she kick him out? Robin clearly was not in conditions of fighting. But they had to finish that match…

"(Get up! Or, jump out of the stage, I don't know!)" she said, looking at everywhere but him. "(You're freaking me out!)"

"ARGH! You're not… In control," he said, his voice hoarse. "I am! Get out!"

All of a sudden, Rob felt silent, breathing heavily and without moving an inch from his position on the ground. Jigglypuff kept staring at warily, as if he was about to have another frak out at any given moment. But Rob just got up from the floor and walked slowly towards her, a weird and creepy grin on his face that honestly set Jigglypuff off. She may not know the guy very well, but even she could tell that he didn't seem like himself.

She jumped out of the way as he tried to hit her with Arcfire and floated above the bonfire that the spell created. Once she was above him, she tried to kick him in head by spinning her body around, but Rob managed to roll away. Once she fell on the floor, Jigglypuff was hit by a weak thunder spell, and while that leave sting, it was not enough to paralyze her. Before Rob could charge at her with the bronze sword, she dodged him by rolling and managed to get behind his back.

"(Enough!)"

She closed her eyes and used rest once again, making him fly off the stage with probably one of the most terrifying screams she'd ever heard.

**GAME!**

* * *

**This chapter surprisingly gave a lot of headache to write about. The reasons are that I keep having new ideas, but I've been wasting time playing Neopets and Fire Emblem The Sacred Stones. And I also realized that I suck at playing Skullgirls a lot. Anyway, tell me what you thought about Lucina's confession or about Rob's battle against Jigglypuff. I would really appreciate it.**

mshLfe4ever: **Okay, first of all, I'm going to answer your second "review" (which is not a review at all, it's just an excuse to ramble), because it honestly pissed me off and I want to get it all of the way as soon as possible. I know you are frustrated with some character choices for the game, but you do not, DO NOT use homophobic slurs against said character to prove your point. It's not funny, quirky or witty, it's downright spiteful and ignorant. I mean, calling Luma "fagbits"? Using the word "gay" to mean "lame"? Really? No, just no. I'm going to delete your review a little while after posting this chapter, because I don't need to put up with this. Second, Rosalina and Luma did not replace the Ice Climbers. They were cut out because the 3DS was having problems with processing eight Ice Climbers fighting at once, so they decided to cut them from the Wii U version because they thought it would be unfair to have the Ice Climbers in just one version of the game. Rosalina was just chosen because she is a really popular character among fans.**

**Now to answer your questions regarding the story: Lucina simply dozed off so much that she didn't see time past by. Besides, she was so nervous with her future confrontation with Robin, that time seemed to pass faster because she didn't want t to arrive. She felt uneasy near Rob because she knew she had screwed up by shouting at him and throwing insults at both him and Robin. They are friends, yes, but that doesn't mean they should be all happy and fine without sorting their problems with each other out first.**

Makokam: **I see what you mean. When it's an AU that still retains some elements of the original works, then the story might work really well. Those are also my favorite types of AUs too. ****You've read a couple fics shipping Samus with Palutena?! Please, send them in to me! I'm thirsty for those! ****Well, Shulk is known to keep stuff to himself. Maybe he thought it wasn't that bad and decided to not alarm anyone, but his judgement might be wrong.**

Bighat12: **Well, I hope you liked Jigglypuff here! And yes, that rest pun just came in at the right time. I'm so glad at least you loved it. I loved it too. I'm all for terrible, terrible puns. ****You've got a good point, I didn't think about that. Maybe Lucina was so quiet that they didn't pay too much attention to her? I should have worked on that part better. I'm also glad to see that you like the Wii Fit Trainers in this story! Yeah, those types of AUs are kind of hit-and-miss me for me too. If they are OOC, then the characters better have really interesting personalities, at least. Oh, I've definitely heard of that game! I'm super excited to see how it will turn out, especially because I love Banjo-Kazooie and it will be a spiritual successor of sorts. Which means we can forget that Nuts n' Bolts ever existed!**

NitroTheKidd:** Oh, now I understand. Lucina and Robin are still kind of distant towards each other, but I'm sure they can work things out… I hope. We'll see how this will turn out. I don't think I can reach Sakurai levels of trolling, honestly.**

LegitElizabethWWEFan: **I missed you, ****girl****! ****You have no idea! ****I can see why you are scared with the direction this plot point is taking, but I have no idea what exactly are you scared of. Are you afraid that one of the Robins might die? I'm just curious. ****I don't believe that they are going to break up, but don't expect everything about their relationship to be a path of flowers for a while. Like this chapter showed, Rob has been distancing himself a lot and Robin is getting really tired and worried about this. ****Not to mention that now Robin has no idea how she'll look at Lucina face-to-face after her confession. ****Yeah, I think that after reading a good portion of your stories, it's safe to assume you love AUs, lol! ****Hope you can get back to writing soon!**

SmashBrosFan96: **I don't think Master hand does it with malicious intents. He just can be really clueless about the Smashers' feelings and thinks he's doing the right thing. ****I thought about that too, but then you stop to think that there are 50 something fighters and if each one did that, the opening ceremony would take on forever. ****Turns out Lucina did confess everything, but that doesn't mean they are now best friends. ****Well, I'm not really into Star Fox and I don't know anything else beyond the main characters and the barrel roll meme, so I can't say a lot about Krystal. About the Fire Emblem Fates thing, the suggestive dialogue is reserved only for the character that your avatar reaches S support with. So it's not like you'll go around molesting your army. It's stated that it's completely consensual. I'm not entirely freaked out about the stripping to be honest, mostly because it's part of the character customization mechanic. Besides, you can do this to your entire army, so… Equality, I guess? ****Yes, I've heard of that. People all over the internet wouldn't shut up about it and I'm really happy for them. ****Good for you, USA!**

WR3000: **Glad to see you back! I put Roy in just for fun. It was not because of hte DLC announcement, trust me.**

**O****kay, guys, I want to say something. I know that you guys probably have more fun talking about the questions I make in the reviews, but could some of you please don't use the review system to just ramble about the game? Like, if you want to solely discuss about Super Smash Bros or anything else, just go to a forum. I want to hear what you think about the story ****too****, you know?**

**On a happier note, I'm really glad that this story has reached 104 followers! Even if most of them are silent readers. Seriously, I'm glad so many people like it! Thanks a lot, guys!**


	20. Kissing your worries away

**Okay, I say this one more time: this story contains spoilers for Fire Emblem Awakening, but this chapter in particular is pretty spoiler heavy!**

* * *

"Bro, bro, brooooo!" Crazy Hand shouted, bursting inside his brother's office while twitching his fingers. "BRO!"

"Crazy, I heard you the first time. Calm down."

Master Hand floated towards his frantic brother, calmly patting his back in order to calm him down. He was actually very impressed how Crazy Hand managed to get in without breaking anything so far and wondered if he actually learned a thing or two about self-restrain after all those years of breaking valuable decoration pieces. Then again, it wasn't as if Master Hand had many vases, paintings, or any object that could serve as a magnet for Crazy Hand's antics. None at his reach, that it. There was a reason why Master Hand's office was so clean and empty these recent years and he had Crazy Hand to thank (blame) for that.

Unlike his older brother, Crazy Hand wasn't that into organizing tournaments and finding ways to cash in with the battles the Smashers had. He was too impulsive, too destructive to be in charge of anything that required meticulous calculation. As such, he hardly got involved in making business with sponsors and the like. He was, however, responsible for the ideas and executions of stage hazards and implementations of items.

That might explain why fights with items turned on felt so unbalanced. Crazy was all about chaos and mayhem, while Master Hand was all about the demonstration of skill.

"Bro, did you see today's battle between Robin and Jigglypuff?!" he screeched. If it was in delight or in horror, Master Hand honestly could not tell.

"No, I was busy," he answered, his interest peaking when he heard Robin's name. "What about it?"

"Robin totally freaked out! Like, twisting and turning on the ground kind of freaked out! It was so weird that I thought you would like to know!"

In less than a second, Master Hand was looming over Crazy, eager for answers. "What exactly happened?" he asked. "Tell me everything you saw."

"Oooookay, SO," he started, pushing his brother away with his index finger. "Robin was fighting Jigglypuff, right? And they were locked in this heated battle, Jigglypuff being the disrespectful little twerp that she was and Robin trying his best to get some sick reads on her attacks, but failing miserably because he was too distracted by something. And then-"

"Get to the point. When did his freak out happen?"

"A little after Jigglypuff knocked him out with a rest attack, which was beautiful, by the way," Crazy Hand stated.

"Was he acting strange before that?"

"He looked distracted. Kind of sluggish. Like, sometimes he knew what he was doing, but sometimes he would just make the most stupid mistakes."

"What else?"

"Bro, why are you asking me all these questions? I don't know what's normal behavior or not for him!" the younger brother whined. "You know the Smashers waaaay better than me. I almost never get the chance to talk to them."

"Alright then. Could you at least tell me how he reacted?"

"Like I said, he kept struggling on the ground like a fish out of the water and clutching his head really, really hard," he kept rolling on the ground as he explained. "Oh, he was also screaming a lot! I think he was saying something like 'get out', but I could be totally wrong."

"Oh, Robin..."

Master Hand was at loss of what to do for moment. From what Crazy Hand just told him, it was most likely that Rob was suffering from the parasite's influence, probably from it trying to reach him. That was alarming, to say the least, especially considering how it jeopardized his physical health and performance in battles. But what could he do? Even if Grima was also his creation, what could he do to get rid of it without having to kill Robin in the process? He only had this one solution in his head, but he didn't want to resort to that.

"You okay there?"

"I'm thinking," Master Hand said.

"About…?"

"About what I'm going to do about Robin's situation," the older twin explained. "Crazy, what he just had wasn't just a simple freak out. It is very possible that Robin was born with an inner parasite that is slowly trying to take over his soul. I fear what had just happened in today's battle was an example of that."

"Born with a soul parasite?"

"Yes."

"That is trying to cripple him mentally and spiritually?"

"Yes."

"Soooooo you just created a defective Robin that can't fight?" Crazy Hand asked. If there was a hint of malice or smugness in his voice, Master Hand couldn't detect.

"Do not call him defective," Master Hand retorted. "He is not a doll and he CAN fight."

"But he's broken like one," the younger twin giggled in amusement. "I can't believe you made a mistake as grave as giving him an infected soul! Bro, you're losing your touch. I thought you learned your lesson after the disaster that was Pichu."

"Let's not speak of Pichu, alright? I need to think on what I'm going to do about Robin."

"If he's of no use to you anymore, can I have him?" Crazy asked with eagerness. "I always wanted a Smasher to play with and give orders!"

"Crazy, you're not dragging any of the Smashers into your shenanigans," he ignored his brother's whining. "You have the Assist Trophies for that."

"Yeah, but it's no fun to play with them when all they do when they are turned on is what they were programmed to do in the battlefield," he protested. "Even R.O.B has more emotions than them! And he's a robot just like them!"

And that's why they are the only things that can stand being around you aside from me, he thought. Instead, Master Hand simply said, "You're not laying a finger on Robin and that's final."

"Greedy," he muttered in irritation, before switching to a brighter disposition. "Anyway, what do you intend to do to him, then?"

"I don't know. Honestly, I don't know," he had his fingers hanging low, his entire mood getting more depressed. "Despite this thing being a parasite, Grima's creation was only possible because he was originally a part of Robin."

"So why doesn't the girl Robin have it too, then?"

"She managed to cut her ties with Grima before the point in time that she got cloned. The male Robin didn't. I've cloned their original selves a few months after their final battle against the fell dragon, when the war was over in their land for good."

"Oooh, tricky. Well, while you try to find an answer, don't you think that maybe she should take over his battles so he won't endanger others and himself?"

"Crazy, that's..." he looked at his brother in awe. "Surprisingly logical of your part. Yes, I think I will do that while we try to find a cure."

"Can I take care of Robin, meanwhile?"

"No."

"Bro, come on!"

Master Hand was honestly loosing his patience. "No," he said, firmly.

"Fine, whatever! I won't get close to him," Crazy Hand curled up in a fist and slammed on the ground. "You're no fun, bro!"

"Love you too."

Crazy Hand prepared to leave, but stopped in the middle of the way and stood still as a floating statue for good five seconds before turning to Master Hand.

"Bro."

"What is it?"

"Instead of finding a cure," he raised his index finger. "Wouldn't it be easier if you just made a new Robin?"

"What do you mean?"

"You don't want to kill him, right? But his body is not the problem, it's just his soul. Why don't you just make a new soul for him and preserve his body?"

Master Hand wanted to contest, to say that it was too complicated and that what he spoke of was nonsense. But he couldn't bring himself to do it. Not because making a new soul wasn't complicated, it was a very tiring and complex thing to do, especially if he was going to make certain modifications after finishing copying the original Robin's soul again.

It was tricky, but not impossible.

"Crazy, you're not making any sense," he told him. "Just… Leave me alone so I can think."

* * *

Rob woke up in a daze. He couldn't remember what he had been doing or how he ended up in his bedroom, but waking up with the worried face Robin had towards him was one of the least things he wanted to see at the moment. She currently sat by his side with an open book on her hands and Rob wondered just for how long had she been like that.

"Ugh… Robin," he whispered, his voice hoarse.

Her face seemed to light up considerably, but a worried sigh still escaped from her lips. "Hey," she murmured, setting her book aside and carefully caressing her finger on his forehead. "How do you feel?"

"Like I was ran over by one hundred pegasi."

His eyes turned to the large window that occupied half of the wall to his left and realized that it was nighttime. Judging by how high the moon was in the sky, he assumed it was pretty late. Just how long had he been knocked out cold? How did the battle end? He remembered Jigglypuff putting him to sleep and then… Nothing.

"What happened?"

"You blacked out after Jigglypuff taook out your last life stock," Robin explained. "After both of you were transported out of the stage, you just collapsed and nobody could get to wake you up."

"How did I end up here?" he tried to sit up, but was stopped by her putting a hand on his shoulder.

"Jigglypuff shouted for help and the staff took you away. Everyone wanted to take you to the nearest hospital, but Master Hand appeared not long after and told to bring you back to your room, saying that what you had no doctor could help and that he would deal with you later," Robin shook her head. "I don't think I need to say that people now are really curious about what's going on with you."

"Yeah, I can imagine that."

He shook her hand away and slowly sat up, ignoring the very mild migraine he still had. He looked at the digital clock at the bed side and saw that it was almost midnight. How come he was still tired after sleeping for so long it was beyond him, but he didn't want to go back to sleep. There was a bouquet of white flowers placed on the chair near the desk for some reason and Rob didn't need to think much before coming to the obvious conclusion of who would send him those.

"Lucina passed by, didn't she?" he asked, pointing at the flowers.

He didn't know if it was his impression or not, but for a second it looked like Robin flinched after hearing the princess' name.

"Ah, yeah, she did. She asked me to give you those after waking up," she said, turning around to look at the flowers before turning to Rob again, "By the way, Shulk and Jigglypuff also passed by. Oh, and Master Hand too! He asked me to inform him when you woke up."

"Jigglypuff, uh? That's nice of her, didn't expect it."

"Well, you did faint after her using rest on you. I think she was worried her attack did more damage to you than she intended."

"Shulk asked you to meet him tomorrow at the patio at noon," Robin informed him, her voice meek. "He said he wanted to discuss some things with you."

"What about you?"

"What about me?"

"You've been here this entire time, while people came and went?"

"Ah, well," she rubbed her arm. "I was worried. Shulk tried to make me leave and get some dinner, but I didn't feel like it."

"You… Don't need to do all of this," Rob frowned in concern. "Robin, don't let me stop you from doing what you want. If you wanted to go have dinner, then you should have..."

"I didn't want to. I wanted to stay."

There was an uncomfortable air between them, one that made both feel like they were in front of a complete stranger. "Rob, what happened during that battle?" Robin asked, quietly.

"I don't know..." he rested his hand on his head. "I remember Jigglypuff singing and putting me to sleep. And then spawning back at the stage, but… It's like I wasn't myself. I felt my consciousness slipping and that's it."

"You don't remember anything else after spawning back to the stage?"

"I remember hearing a voice on the back of my head and… Oh," he lowered his head and looked away. "Okay, I think I know what happened to me."

"Grima, right?"

"Ugh, I told myself I wouldn't let this happen to me," he groaned and was about to grab his pillow and stuff it in his face, but Robin held his arm before he could do anything. "What am I even doing wrong? Every time I keep telling myself he has no influence over me, but then I keep having all these awful visions and dreams… And I don't even know what to do to get rid of him!"

Robin had no words, no ideas on what to do. Grima was like a disease that was slowly eating him away and she had no idea how to help him deal with it. All she could do was stay by his side and that was frustrating her to no end.

"I can barely sleep well..."

She would search for a solution tomorrow. Robin couldn't stand seeing him in that miserable state, she needed to do something. Surely she could find something in the books at one of the city's biggest libraries. She had a lot of free time due to her loose schedule, so that seemed like a good plan.

Robin refused to let what Shulk told her happen.

"We'll find a way," she told him, firmly and moving closer. "Nothing is going to happen to you, Rob."

"I don't know, Robin."

"You can't give up," she pressed on.

"I'm not giving up, but I don't feel optimistic about this at all," he let out a long sigh. "I should have done like you and dealt the final blow back then. If I was selfless like you and did what was right, I-"

"I wasn't selfless," she cut him mid-sentence. "What I did back then, trying to end my life just to get at Grima, I didn't do it because I was being selfless. I was actually quite the contrary."

"What do you mean?" he asked. "How can you sacrificing your life for the safety of the world be selfish?"

"I didn't do it because I wanted the world to be safe! I did it because I hated myself," she looked away, hugging her stomach tightly. "I hated what I was, what Validar wanted me to become. I hated the looks of suspicion I got from some of the Shepherds and how Grima seemed to be taking control over me as the days passed. I just wanted everything to end."

"But everything turned out fine in the end, didn't it? You didn't need to die and you saved everyone."

"I WANTED to die, Rob!" she exclaimed, fighting back the tears in her already reddened eyes. "And what better way to go there was than using the excuse that you were doing this for other people's sake?"

Rob said nothing, so he decided to just take her hand.

"Chrom and Lissa's faces when they found me on the road near Ylisstol… I don't think I've ever seen them cry that much, not after Emmeryn's sacrifice. Except they were crying in happiness and relief this time. And I guess… It was then when I realized how much they have suffered this entire time with my decision. I hated myself so much that I thought I was doing a favor to everyone by ending my life," she turned her head to Rob, who listened to her with every ounce of attention. "You have no idea how much I cried after that. I thought I was going to dehydrate."

"Still..."

"The Ylisse I lived in will never have to fear the return of the fell dragon, but..." she gave a melancholic smile. "It was thanks to very selfish motivations. In a way, your decision was a lot more selfless than mine."

"Of course it wasn't."

"Of course it was! You knew how much you mattered to Chrom, Lissa and everyone else, right? That's why you let Chrom deal the final blow, didn't you? Even when what you wanted the most was to disappear, you stayed for your friends."

"What, so are you going to say that I made the right decision?"

"I don't know. And I honestly don't think I can say anything about what's right or wrong," Robin intertwined her fingers with his. "But don't ever hate yourself for the decision you made in the past, okay?" her words started to choke on the newly formed hiccups. "Don't even start thinking that everyone's better off without you. Just… Please, fight whatever this thing is back. It's not your fault that you were born with it, but please don't give up. Don't..."

"Oh, gods, Robin, don't cry!" he straightened himself up and leaned closer to her, cupping her cheeks with his hands. "It's okay, it's okay. I won't do anything stupid, I promise! I'll do what I can to fight Grima off, but don't cry."

She simply nodded and tried her best to stop her tears, biting her lip in the process just a little too strong, enough to accidentally hurt herself and a bead of blood drop from her cut. "Tch, I really should stop this habit," she murmured. "Gonna get some terrible infection these days."

"Yeah, you should."

He leaned forward and lightly brushed his lips on hers, making Robin gasp at the sudden contact. "What was that for?" she asked. "You didn't make anything better, now you have blood on your lips too!"

"It was worth a try," he gave a sheepish grin.

"Ha ha he he, honestly, you're ridiculous," Robin giggled, pulling him into another kiss. And another. And then another one. There were still some involuntary tears trickling down from her eyes, but they were nothing compared to how much she was laughing at the moment, almost losing her breath in-between kisses and her uncontrolable giggles.

Oh, how she wanted to have more faith in his words. All she could do was laugh and kiss her worries off. Honestly, she didn't know who was more ridiculous.

Rob pulled her even closer and laid down, dragging Robin with him and making her lay on top of him. The two locked lips ferociously, hands under robes and traveling through each other's bodies as if they were meeting for the first time. Slowly, it seemed like all their worries were dimming out and being replaced by pure instinct as the heat between them grew with every kiss, every time their tongues touched and sent pleasant shivers down their spine, making both yearn for each other more and more.

Nothing else mattered that night. There was no Grima or tournament to worry over. There was nothing aside from them, not even the cold that began that touched their skin as their robes began to be thrown aside.

For that night, they were willing to forget everything.

* * *

Lucina usually didn't stay awake that late at night. Being a very morning person, she usually went to sleep early so she could wake up well on the next morning. Still, sometimes she made exceptions to this rule, usually when she was too nervous about something (a habit of hers during war times) or when one of her friends insisted on spending some time with her this late at night. The former was a more common justification than the latter, but that was not the case now.

After delivering the flowers to Robin and not gathering up the courage to look at the other Robin in the face after she realized just how awkward it was to deliver flowers to your comatose best friend through their lover, who you also happen to be infatuated with, Lucina decided to distracted her head (and heart) by spending some time with Peach, Samus and Palutena.

It was eleven in the night when Palutena had the brilliant idea of suggesting they should spend some time in the game salon, located underground the hotel. The room had just about any kind of party game they could think of: snooker tables, pinball machines, poker tables, just about anything, as well as a mini bar that was currently open for anyone who didn't feel like going to the one that was located near the pool area. And considering how cold the night was now, the gaming salon sure was filled with a lot of people, be it those who wanted to drink their problems away or those who just wanted to spend a good time with their friends.

Or both, in Peach's case.

Still, she's rather not get near the bar, not with Lucina near her. The last incident involving both Lucina and alcohol were still painfully fresh in her memory for her to want to repeat the experience. So she suggested they should just hog one of the ping pong tables before they were all occupied and play for a while. Lucina and Samus were currently locked in a heated battle against each other, while Peach and Palutena talked quietly between them a few steps away from the table.

"So, when are you going to confess?" Palutena asked in a teasing tone to the now blushing princess.

"Now it isn't the time to make any moves, okay?" she replied, nervous about Lucina accidentally hearing their conversation. "Can't we just drop the subject, Palutena?"

"But you are such good friends! She already trusts you so much, now is the perfect time!" she paused for a moment, reconsidering what she had just said, before dropping the tone of her voice, "Unless… There's no way that she fancies girls?"

"It's not about if she likes women or not!" she whispered, angrily, her face getting even redder by the seconds. "She's already going through some emotional turmoils, okay? I'm not going to make a move on her while she's in this fragile state."

Palutena was seriously annoying her. First, Palutena was in no way that close to her for her to think she could stick her nose in her personal life that way. Second, who even gave her permission to try dropping subtle hints and try to hook both of them, like they were in some sort of double date?

And third, how come she was so tempted in doing what Palutena had been suggesting? She was a lot better than this. She would not take advantage of Lucina's current fragile state. Not after her heart breaking confession she made when they were to the flower shop to buy the guy Robin some flowers.

"Nonsense!" Palutena leaned in and whispered in her ear. "If you want to, Samus and I can go somewhere else and give you two some space."

"Please don't..."

The goddess just let out an exasperated sigh and crossed her arms. She didn't know why Peach was so hesitant. If she had a crush on Lucina, shouldn't she be sincere and go talk to her? That's how she got Samus to date her in the first place. Mortals could be so complicated sometimes, it always baffled Palutena how they made things turn out more complicated than they were. All Peach needed was to lock both her and Lucina inside a closet and kiss.

It had worked for her.

Meanwhile Peach just kept replaying the moment both she and Lucina were at the flower shop, watching distractedly the ping pong ball bouncing from one part of the table to another.

"_I told Robin everything," Lucina confessed as the two of them passed by the numerous flower displays._

"_Oh?" Peach turned her eyes at her in surprised._

"_About my crush on her," she paused for a moment, stopping on her tracks and making Peach stop walking as well, "D-Didn't I tell you about this before?"_

"_Well, not as far as I remember."_

"_I swear that I..."_

"_It's okay," she waved her hand. "I already had my suspicions."_

"_Was I that obvious?"_

"_No, I just have a good sense for these things," Peach fidgeted her fingers, too embarrassed to explain that she spent way too much time admiring Lucina to be able to notice small gestures._

"_I see."_

"_A-Anyway, how did she react?"_

"_I can't tell, actually. She didn't get angry or disgusted, but she barely demonstrated any emotion," Lucina crossed her arms over her chest. "I have no idea how things between us will be from now on."_

"_These things are complicated. Give her some time, I'm sure things will work out between you two," she gave a sympathetic smile._

"_I know, but it still hurts."_

_They walked in silence, only exchanging a few words when it came to deciding which flower Robin would like the best. Lucina ended up opting for white lilies and Peach just nodded in response._

"_Did something like this ever happen to you, Peach?"_

"_You mean my feelings not being corresponded by someone?" she asked, putting an index finger on her chin and looking upwards. "I guess you could say I have gone through this a couple of times."_

"_Oh, really? _

"_I'd rather not talk about it," she fidgeted her hands more roughly. "I just don't think now is the best time to say anything to them."_

"_Wait, there is someone you like at the moment?!"_

"_Lucina, I really don't want to talk about it now."_

_She could feel her heart skip a beat when Lucina took her hands into her own. Really, Lucina? Really? Was that really the time to grab her hands like that? _

"_You know you can tell me anything, right?" she asked, completely oblivious._

"_I know. I will tell you… Someday, not now," Peach held her breath as she felt Lucina squeeze her hand. "One day, okay?"_

"_Alright."_

_Peach broke free from her grasp and walked ahead, not once looking behind her. Just once she wanted to be a huge selfish jerk and kiss Lucina right there, without thinking about the consequences or how that would affect the Ylissean princess. _

And she was so close to doing it. Maybe Peach wasn't so above it all as she thought. Next time… Next time I won't hold back, she thought to herself. She can hate me all she wants, but I won't hold back.

She just wouldn't give Palutena the satisfaction of playing matchmaker.

* * *

**I don't know why, but I really like to imagine Crazy Hand having a personality similar to Henry, from Awakening. It's probably because Henry is one of my favorite characters in the game ****(married him three times and I don't regret it at all) ****and I like to imagine Crazy being destructive, but innocent. ****I pretty much imagine both hands doing whatever they want according to what they think it's right or what would make them happier.**

**I ****originally wanted the Assist Trophies to be just like the Smashers, but I decided to make them just robots because of Shulk's internal conflict of letting go of his past. It was mentioned how much he misses his friends and how having projections of Riki and Dunban in his final smash just added salt to the wound. Riki is also an Assist Trophy, so it kind of wouldn't make sense for Shulk to miss him as well ****if he was a sentient being****. ****So yeah, the Assist Trophies are just objects. Thanks, Shulk.**

SmashBrosFan96: **Lucina was crying for two reasons: she was both relieved that she finally let out everything that she was feeling and was also hurt for finally getting rejected by Robin. Even if she already saw that answer coming from miles away, it still hurt her a lot. ****Mario can't be with Pauline since she's not alive in the Smash universe. I honestly have no idea who he's supposed to be with. Maybe a Mii that looks like Pauline? I don't know. ****Nope, Rob is back to his usual self, but you can see that that 15 second possession did affect his self-esteem a lot. ****I wasn't complaining about your reviews! I was complaining about people who solely let reviews to complain about the game. I'm sorry for making you think otherwise.**

LittleBlueBird: **Grima's not having his chance today. But who knows? Maybe in a near future he might get what he wants?**

WR3000: **Well, I did put the spoilers warning in the first chapter. Still, aside from this chapter, I don't think there are going to be any more spoilers. Still, if I have ruined some of your gaming experience, I'm really sorry. ****I don't think Marth and Roy will play any significant part… But then again, I also said I didn't want to put Lucina in any romantic tension and look where she is now. I can't answer you honestly. ****As for which Robin I prefer better… I think like female Robin better, but that's because I like to play as my own gender more and I think she's really cute. But I like to play as the male Robin every once in a while.**

MasterHamsters: **Hey, I haven't noticed that Celica's Gale thing at all! I don't know, it's just that I can't figure it out which tome Robin uses when s/he grabs their opponent, so I assumed it was Celica's Gale because of the purple wind thingy. ****I like to imagine****Jigglypuff being all about playing her opponents, not the game. ****Hope to see your story up soon!**

NitroTheKidd: **Wow, this fanfic kind of has been getting dark, now that you mentioned. This was supposed to be just a romantic comedy, I swear! Well, now it's too late to change. ****Like you said, hopefully Lucina and Robin are in the road of recovery. I told you I would include Ike somewhere. Hopefully he will appear again!**

ubermaster: **I can assure you that these similarities are purely coincidental. I know jack squat about the Street Fighter lore. ****You really think the characters here are OOC? I've been trying so hard to make them as in-character as possible (with some changes ****on**** personality, for plot reasons).**

Makokam:** Well, now I'm sad... I remember you reviewing that story and how you said I needed a beta. Yeah, I still need to edit that one. ****I corrected the "she can literally kill you in your sleep" part, thanks for pointing that out! That fight was pretty fun to write, you're right on that one. Yeah, Rob being possessed would be really... bad.**

Smash King24:**Glad to have you back, Smash! Well, Dark Pit and Lucina may be clones, but in Master Hand's "eyes" they are their own character, so they get to participate in the opening ceremony. Which is kind of ironic, considering Bowser Jr. and pretty much every other Koopaling are physically more different from each other than Pit and Dark Pit. ****Dark Pit's character background is pretty convoluted, but at least he's still pretty fun. ****You're right, Jigglypuff is more about messing up with her opponent than trying to win the game. I'm pretty sure she doesn't mind half of her defeats, as long as her victories tasted sweet. ****I made Lucina and Robin's conversation feel awkward on purpose. ****After everything that happened between these two, it would be kind of weird for Robin to just "okay, cool, now that you explained, we're going to be great friends". ****I'm glad you liked the samustena tidbit, I really am! Now that you mentioned it, it was pretty weird for him to fall for Jigglypuff's bait after it being stated that he preferred to attack from a distance. ****I should have explained it better that it was thanks to Grima that he wasn't in his best state of mind, so sorry the inconsistency.**

**To answer your question, I'd rather fight a Bowser-sized Olimar. Can you imagine 100 tiny Bowsers with their spike shells trying to hit you? What if the climb on your face? Yikes.**

Bighat12: **I'm sorry for you having to use your iPad to write. It really is a pain to use it write. ****Yeah, Murphy's Law can be jerk sometimes. Actually, it can be a jerk every time. Jigglypuff is the ultimate punmaster! Yup, considering how the Smash tournaments are pretty much like a reaaaally extensive Olympics game in this universe, I can already imagine a lot of channels doing coverages of the fights, complete with announcers and ****specialists.****I'm happy that you look forward to any future story of mine! Really, it makes me really glad that you are enjoying this story so much!**

**Okay, question time! Because last chapter I was too bothered to make one, I'll compensate with two ****this time****:**

**-What's your favorite game genre? (visual novels and artsy, "experience type" games included)**

**-Do you enjoy Let's Plays? **

**P.S: The Robins used protection. Always nice to be safe.**


	21. You're not allowed to leave

"Robin? Robin, wake up. You're having a nightmare, wake up!"

Robin woke up in a jolt, her entire body sweating cold and her heart racing faster than Sonic wearing a bunny hood. She was shaking beyond belief and it took more than a few deep breaths to calm herself down. Rob just laid by her side, stroking her naked back in a soothing gesture and waiting patiently for her to gather her thoughts.

The window showed that it was still pitch dark outside, with their room being lit only by a single lamp that rested on the bed desk, meaning it couldn't have been more than a few hours since they fell asleep.

"Rob? You were awake this entire time?" Robin asked as she turned around to face him. Good gods, his face was sickly pale and his eyes were swollen from the lack of sleep!

"I woke up about half an hour ago, I think. Had another nightmare."

"Well, what a coincidence..."

To think that it was her first nightmare after 5 nights of peaceful slumbers, Robin shouldn't be surprised that one would eventually come back to haunt her. Did it really need to be about Rob dying in her arms though? No, no it didn't need to be about that. She would take another war flashback anytime, because she could deal a little better with images she would never have to go through anymore. But her nightmare this night… It hit way too close home. Specially after what transpired not a few hours ago.

Damn brain cells.

"Get some more rest," Rob suggested. "It's still 5 am."

"No… I don't want to," she said, mindlessly nuzzling on his collar bone. "Not with you awake like this."

"Are you seriously trying to convince me to go back to sleep like this?" he let out a heartfelt chuckle.

"Is it working?"

"No."

"Then I'm not going back to sleep."

Yeah, none of them actually wanted to go to sleep, that was pretty clear for them.

There was a comforting silence between them, despite their mutual fear of going back to sleep and reliving the terrible images of their nightmares. Maybe it was the fact that none of the nightmares could get them there. Or maybe it was the fact that that was the closest they had gotten in a while. But whatever the reason, both Robins just cuddled for a while, too engrossed in their peaceful quietness to care about anything else.

However, peace couldn't last longer, as there was still one little question that plagued their minds. It was nothing life threatening, or even that important, but it still bothered them.

"So," Rob coughed. "Um, did you like it?"

"Did I like wh- Oh," she let out an awkward chuckle. "I don't know. I feel awkward."

"Awkward? Really?"

"I mean, it was good. Really good, actually, but… It feels awkward, somehow."

"Do you regret it?"

"What? Gods, no! Rob, how could I ever regret it? I said I feel awkward now, not that I don't want to have sex with you ever again," she then whispered quietly, "I actually hope it's the contrary."

"That's already good enough. I'll take it."

She gave him a warm smile and snuggled closer to him, refusing to give in to her heavy eyelids. "I love you," Robin said, planting a chaste kiss on his neck.

"Love you too, Robin."

"Oh, by the way," she whispered on his ear, a mischievous tone on her voice. "Where did you learn to do _that_ with your tongue? Wow, Rob, it sure was something!"

Her smile evolved into a grin as Rob blushed and refused to answer to her (rhetorical) question, instead turning his back to her. It was just so gratifying to be the one doing the teasing this time! She would enjoy every second of it.

"Was it with one of the Shepherds or is it just natural talent?" she purred.

"Robin, go to sleep!"

"Oh, and when you-"

"Go to sleep! You're ridiculous!"

"Make me!" she threw her arm around his torso and continued her teasing by leaving small bites on his shoulders.

He turned around and quickly stopped her with a kiss, followed by another one way less chaste. They still had a few hours before they had to leave, face Master Hand and deal with whoever was going to pester them because of Rob's fight. They could enjoy the few moments of peace that they still had. Or so that was their plan, until they heard the room's phone ringing, breaking any kind of mood that was building up.

"You've got to be kidding me," Robin mumbled.

"I'll get it," Rob groaned, extending his arm and blindly searching for the base. Once he found it, he lazily took the phone and brought it to his ear. "Hello?"

"_Robin? __I am so__g__lad you are awake,_" the familiar voice on the other side said. "_I called because I wanted to ask you and the female Robin to visit my office in four hours. There are matters we need to discuss._"

"Master Hand, it's five in the morning," he grumbled. "Couldn't you have called in a better hour?"

"_I called __you__ because I remembered that I haven't told the female Robin I wanted to meet you two as soon as possible, before your battles scheduled for today happened._"

"Couldn't you have waited until dawn, when we woke up?"

"_You__r voice__ do__es__n't sound sleepy at all. I would even guess you haven't been sleeping._"

Well, he's not wrong, he thought.

"_Anyway, I apologize for any __disturbances. I expect to find you here at 9 am. Have a good night._"

"Good night," Rob grumbled and slammed the phone on the base. "Gods damn..."

"What is it?" Robin asked.

"We have to meet him at his office at 9 am. He said it was urgent."

"W-What do you think he might want?"

"Something good, I hope."

* * *

"Robin, due to the current circumstances, I decided to give your fighting schedule to your female counterpart."

"Excuse me, what?!" both Robins exclaimed.

They should have expected that nothing good to come out from a reunion with Master Hand at his office. One would think that they had learned their lesson with their reunion two weeks ago.

"Please understand, Robin," the hand continued. "After your battle with Jigglypuff, we cannot afford to have something like your freak out happen again."

"But it wasn't his fault!" Robin jumped in to defend him.

"And that is exactly the problem. It is clear Robin has little to no control over Grima. Who knows what else might happen while he is out there fighting?"

"So what you are saying is that I can't even get near the battlefield?" Rob asked, staring at the floor.

"Not before we find a way to get rid of Grima," Master Hand said. "Until then you are not allowed to leave this hotel."

His head immediately shot up, his dark eyes completely wide.

"Wait, why can't I leave the hotel?!"

"I need you close in case anything else happens. I may be able to appear almost anywhere that I want, but I need to know what is going on first, don't you agree?"

"But that's not fair to him! He needs to go out every once in a while!" Robin interjected.

"This is not of your concern. Just concentrate on the tournament and let me take care of him."

"It does—I mean—I do worry about him. He's my friend," she bit her tongue.

"It's okay, Robin. Maybe it is for the better," Rob said, apprehensively.

"But Rob, are you sure?"

"No, but it's not like we'll convince Master Hand otherwise."

"Right you are, Robin," Master Hand said, making Robin cringe. "If I discover that you have sneaked away from the hotel, there will be punishment, do you understand?"

Rob nodded.

"As well as to whoever decides to convince you to go out for a few couple of hours," he turned to Robin, who also nodded.

And so their little reunion ended with both Robins having an extremely bitter taste in their mouth. Rob was prohibited from doing anything else. They were actually surprised that he was at least allowed to breathe.

At the cafeteria, after the reunion was over, Robin had to eat her breakfast in a hurry, since Rob's fight (that was now hers) would begin in an hour. She would make sure she arrived at the stadium in record time, while promising him before she left that she would pass by a library to see if she could find any information that linked to his current situation. He sincerely doubted she would find anything, and maybe even she didn't have high hopes in he research, but trying wouldn't hurt.

Rob just sat by himself at the cafeteria's table for a while, twirling his coffee with a little silver spoon and watching it getting cold. He paid no attention to some of the questioning looks he got from other Smashers there, not really in the mood to wonder what they could be thinking of him. He actually didn't need to, even if he wanted, because no more than three minutes after Robin had left him there, he saw Lucario approaching the table.

"_Hello, Robin,_" he greeted. "_May __I sit__?_"

"Go ahead," he pointed his hand at the seat in front of him. "You want to talk about yesterday?"

"_You read my mind._"

"I just have good intuition."

"_Anyway, yes, I do want to know," _the Pokemon sat down._ "__Not only__m__e, __but__ all the Pokemon who watched the fight. Jigglypuff was specially worried that she might have put you in a coma and Greninja is just too shy to ask you what was __that__ all about._"

"Tell Jigglypuff I will live. For now, that is, you never know the day of tomorrow."

"_That was surprisingly dark..._"

"Sorry, I'm not in the best mood these days," he said, crossing his arms and slumping over his chair even more.

"_What is it that bothers you?_"

"Master Hand wants Robin to fight for me because of the incident from yesterday. I can't even leave the hotel anymore until he comes up with a solution for what he wants to do with Grima."

"_Grima?_"

"It's what we're calling the parasite that's in my aura."

"_Right…__I really have no words, I'm sorry," _Lucario twitched his ears, feeling rather uncomfortable for him. "_So what you had yesterday was a reaction to Grima?_"

"I wouldn't say it was a reaction, as it was more of a struggling against him. Something about Jigglypuff's rest attack might have triggered him into trying to take over me. Or… At least I think that's the case. So tell Jigglypuff it's not her fault. She didn't know any better."

"_I will keep that in mind._"

"Oh, Rob! Good to see you here."

Both Rob and Lucario turned their heads to where the voice came from and found Shulk walking towards their table with a plate of eggs and a bowl of cereal. Rob really didn't think that should be the best combination to start the day off, but if Shulk wanted to have a stomachache, then it was his problem.

"_Greetings, Shulk._"

"Hey."

"Hi, Lucario," he said, before tuning his attention to Rob once again. "Where's Robin? It's so rare to see you without her, nowadays."

"If you're searching for her, she's already left to fight Yoshi."

"Oh, no. No, I was just curious. I actually wanted to talk to you," the seer glanced at Lucario. "Sorry, Lucario, but I'll need to ask you to leave. It's kind of important."

"_I am not bothered. __I will leave you to discuss in peace._"

Lucario gave his seat to Shulk and left the table, heading towards the exit, only to find Greninja waiting for him there. "I didn't know Lucario ate at the cafeteria," Shulk commented as he saw him get out of their sight, along with Greninja.

"He doesn't," Rob said, following his gaze. "I think he just came here because he was curious about yesterday."

"Oh, right!" he turned around, facing the rather depressed tactician. "I never got to ask you. Are you alright? Robin was worried sick about you. She wouldn't leave your bedside no matter how much I tried to make her take a break."

"She told me that. She also told me you came by to visit me," there was a very small smile on his lips that passed unnoticed by Shulk. "So… Thanks for worrying, Shulk."

"Hey, you're my friend, after all. Of course I'd get worried," he munched on his cereal before continuing, "I don't know if Robin passed the message to you that I wanted to talk later, but since you're here, I might say this while were alone."

"What is it, Shulk?"

"Remember at the opening ceremony, a little before they called our names to enter the stage?"

"What about it?"

"Remember when I told you I had a vision?"

"Vaguely," he crossed his arms once more. "I kind of forgot you had one of your visions after everything else happened."

"Well, it was a vision involving you," Shulk said, looking at him dead seriously in the eyes. "I didn't know what to make of it at first, as it was very vague and I almost couldn't understand the context of the situation, so I didn't know if I should have warned you immediately or not."

"What happened?" Rob straightened himself up and uncrossed his arms. Now he was really curious. It wasn't often Shulk had any sort of vision involving him.

"I saw you unconscious, laid on a metallic table in some weird room. I don't know why, but I have the feeling that you, and even I for that matter, have already been there, but I can't explain why. I guess it's because that room kind of reminded me of my lab back in Colony 9?" he scratched his head, trying to dig something from his memory. "I don't know. All I know is that Master Hand was floating above you and Robin was watching you. I couldn't see her face, since she had her back turned to me, but… I think she was crying."

"That sounds ominously vague."

"Yeah, I can agree with you on that. Oh, and I remember some ball of light floating just above your chest, before it entered your body."

"How?"

"It just did. It reminded me of a ball made of ether, but I don't believe that can be it."

"I wonder if Master Hand found a cure," Rob mumbled to himself, quietly. "But Robin was crying in the vision, so that can't be it."

"What cure?" Shulk asked.

Dang, Shulk some really good hearing!

"You mean you don't know?"

"Don't know what?"

Robin explained his entire situation as briefly as possible, explaining bits about his past and what consequences it brought to his current life. Shulk just listened everything carefully, his sympathy towards Rob growing the more he explained about this Grima god and how being born to be his vessel screwed up the way he was now.

Yeah, he could definitely sympathize with him on that.

"And now I can't leave the hotel because of this," Rob finished off with a sigh.

"To tell you the truth, I also don't believe this vision has anything to do with Master hand finding a cure," he rested his hand on his chin.

"Still, thanks for telling me that. I don't know what I'll do with this information, but I'll keep it in mind."

"Anytime. So now what are you going to do? I mean, you are prohibited from leaving, so I was wondering..."

"I don't know. Maybe go back to my room and do nothing?"

"Since you're not going to do anything, do you want to go to the game salon with me for a while?"

"Don't you have any fights to attend to?" Rob raised an eyebrow.

"Not until 2 in the afternoon," Shulk said, resting his elbow on the table. "Come on, Rob! Locking yourself inside your room like this won't make your mood better. You need to distract your head."

It wasn't as if Rob had any excuse to refuse him. He could always be sincere and tell him he would rather wallow in self-misery, but the more he thought about it, the worse he felt. Shulk was right, he needed to do something to distract himself, or at least do something enjoyable. He was already on forced vacations and one step closer to death, so he might as well enjoy himself a little. Or try to, at the very least.

"Okay, fine," he said, nodding his head. "You convinced me."

* * *

**3… 2… 1… GO!**

Robin spawned at the Gaur Plains stage without any backup plans, only with Rob's initial strategy in mind. Since she had very little time to prepare herself, Robin had no idea if she should feel optimistic about today's battle or not. She saw Yoshi popping out from his egg at the other side of the great depression that separated both fighters, trying to analyze what she should do first.

Oh, things didn't look good in her favor. Gaur Plains wasn't very friendly to non-aerial fighters. Sure, she had her Elwind tome to aid her in case she fell down, but she could use her tome just so many times before it broke. Yoshi, on the other hand, had one of the best recoveries between the Smashers, being incredibly airborne and fast. It was clear who had the advantage here, but Robin wouldn't give up.

Yoshi ran to the edge and made a huge leap, ready to land on Robin's portion of the stage. She immediately started charging her Elthunder tome, ready to strike the second he landed.

"Oof!"

There!

"Elthunder!" she shouted, shooting a ball of electricity towards him. Unfortunately for her, he managed to roll away at the right time.

Robin activated her shield as soon as she saw him preparing to headbutt her, but was not able to punish him by grabbing him with Celica's Gale, for the impact sent her sliding a couple feet away and making him stay out of her reach.

"That's it, Robin! You're going down!" Yoshi said, playfully, as if that was all a big game to him.

"We'll see about that," she gave a roguish smile, jumping in the air as she spoke.

Yoshi jumped as well in order to give her an air kick, but Robin was faster and hit him with Arcfire, burning him at mid-air. She used that brief moment that stunned him to charge her Arcthunder tome, while Yoshi made sure to get away from her as soon as possible. He threw an egg at her, forcing her to stop everything she was doing to raise her shield again. Unfortunately, that was all but a bait for the tactician to get vulnerable enough for him to use his tongue and grab her. Yoshi swallowed her and transformed her into an egg, using those precious seconds where she struggled to get out from her shell to headbutt her.

"Ew, ew, ew!" she cried out once she was released, trying to wipe off the saliva from her body. "Seriously, Yoshi?!"

"Everyone tells me the same," the dinosaur pouted. "It's a biological condition."

"Oooh, this is gonna get so gross."

"Don't worry, you'll get clean once you leave the stage. That's how people can stand playing against me or Kirby."

"I hope so."

Yoshi dashed towards her, ready to kick her in the stomach, only to fail when Robin rolled out of the way and hit him with her Levin sword. With a yelp of pain, the dinosaur backed off and jumped once more, spinning around and using his tail as a whip to hit Robin in the stomach.

That was going to be a long battle, she could already tell.

* * *

"Robin, he won't stop jumping," Rob muttered, watching the television that broadcast the fight between Robin and Yoshi that hung on the wall ahead from him. "He's quick, but reckless. Maybe if you could keep him on the ground, or hit him with Arcfire while he's close to hit you..."

"One point!"

There was a loud clack that shook Rob out of his trance, forcing him to take his eyes away from the TV and back to his opponent at the other side of the air hockey table. What just happened?

"This wouldn't have happened if you were paying attention to the game than to the television," Shulk playfully mocked.

"Where is the code of honor?" Rob played along, reaching down the table to retrieve the red disk. "You saw I was distracted with Robin's fight."

"Oh, how is she doing, by the way?" Shulk turned around, squinting his eyes at the screen.

Just as he did that, Rob slid the disk across the table and hit Shulk's goal, making him turn back at him in surprise.

"Hey!"

The little screen on the left side of the table showed the digital score of 19-20, marking Rob as the winner of their game.

"If you were paying attention, that wouldn't have happened," he smirked.

"Low blow, Rob. You just did that because you were one point from winning."

"No, I just did that because I don't like being cheated on," Rob said, his eyes focusing on the TV again, "Ah! Robin got the kill! I can't believe Yoshi fell for that trick!"

"What trick?!" Shulk turned around just in time to see the replay of Robin using Elwind on Yoshi and pummeling to the abyss below them. "Hey, nice one!"

"She's using the strategy I recommended her," the tactician commented, kind of proud, kind of surprised at how she took his advices from heart.

"...Your face is red."

"What? I'm happy that she puts so much faith in me," he said, roughly rubbing his cheek with the palm of his hand. "It means a lot to me."

"You two really love each other a lot, don't you?" Shulk smiled.

"To be honest, being with Robin is one of the few things that keeps me going on nowadays," Rob confessed.

"Come on, Rob..."

"I know I sound like a downer, but it's true. I'm just… Really, really tired of doing anything," he sighed. "I'm actually kind of relieved that Robin took over my fight for today. I don't think I would be able to face Yoshi like this. I didn't even want to get out of my bed."

"Haven't you been getting any sleep?"

"It's not just about the lack of sleep. I'm just tired of everything."

"I… Really have no words for that."

"It's okay, I just wanted to let it out."

Shulk really hoped a cure to this Grima thing was found. He had the feeling Rob wouldn't last long if things kept going that way.

* * *

**Master Hand keeps making things worse without even knowing and he has amazing cockblock senses. And about the air hockey game thing, I did plan on making them play chess, but decided not to, because I don't know how to play chess and couldn't narrate it and also because I remember playing air hockey a lot when I went to birthday parties when I was little. They always had one of those and I would always drag one of my friends or my sister to play.**

**Anyway, where getting close to the end and, wow, I can't believe I might actually finish this story. On an unrelated note, I know it's not a surprise to anyone, but Gemini will be on a hiatus until my motivation to write that story returns.**

PozzyP: **You're right, you should definitely review more often. I'm sorry about the direction I took with the Assist Trophies, but it was necessary. I really wanted to write about either Riki or Ashley, but then it wouldn't explain why Shulk missed him so much. Unless they were sentient beings but were constantly locked in a basement and only freed in battles. But let's admit it, that would be way too cruel. ****I would say great minds think alike, indeed! Especially when it comes to pushing gay girls into closets.**

SharpRevan: **RPGs are amazing, but I don't have a lot of patience to finish them. If Robin gets pregnant, then Master Hand would really lose his temper. I mean, one of the two Robins is mentally ill and can't currently fight and then suddenly the other shows up pregnant. I don't think he would appreciate it a lot.**

Guest: **Ouch! I'm sorry, I thought it was specific enough. ****I was kind of afraid of reaching rated M territory (had to tweak chapter 9 because that happened), but maybe I sho****u****ld have taken more risks. ****To be honest****, I'm not really trying that hard to use as many words as possible. ****If I sound too wordy, I'm not doing it intentionally. Makokam already told me to proofread and yeah, I get kind of impatient and careless at times just so I can update faster. ****I've never heard of JackSepticEye, but I'll check his channel out!**

NitroTheKidd88: **Well, at the moment, neither of them cared that much. I hope this chapter answered some of your questions! ****And no, they didn't do Morgan, Like I said, the Robins are already going through some pretty tough times and having Morgan would just make things worse for them. But if they were to have Morgan, I have no idea if they would have Galeforce, because I don't know if Robin decided to become a Dark Flier at one point ****of**** her life. ****I also play casual when it comes to Fire Emblem. Strategical thinking is hard and loosing your units forever isn't fun ****(that's why I'm having difficulties with Sacred Stones)****, so I'm really glad Awakening had casual mode. ****Maybe the Phoenix Wright LPs are boring because it's a visual novel? I don't know.**

**I like to mix it up. I try to not camp too much, so I usually try to alternate between playing ****aggressively**** with the Levin and bronze swords and spamming Elthunders and Arcfires. Sometimes I get some hard reads, but I'm not that good at that and I usually don't follow my opponents off stage when I'm playing as Robin, because I tend to abuse of my Elwind tome when I jab, so I don't know if I'll be able to recover later.**

SmashBrosFan96: **I'm glad you liked Crazy Hand! Henry is a bloodthirsty sociopath that joins your army in the game and he's really, really funny. While I didn't put the bloodthirsty part, I tend to think Crazy cares very little about what others are feeling, with the exception of Master Hand and maybe the full-time veterans, who he feel closer to. ****Robin explained that she did what she did because she thought everyone would end up winning with her decision. She would disappear and people wouldn't have to worry about Grima anymore, since their lives were connected. In the game it is shown that the Avatar (Robin) despite being well-liked by others and being praised for their tactical abilities still have some pretty deep insecurities about themselves, like the male Avatar telling Tiki in their s support ****conversation**** that they know they will never be as good as Marth ****in her eyes****, or asking their doppelganger at the wellspring of truth if they are worthy of standing by Chrom's side, despite everything that happened. ****So I basically took this characteristic and leveled up to eleven for drama's sake.**

**I ****don't believe their situation is a love square? Like, Rob and Robin are already in a relationship, and then there's Lucina pinning for Robin and Peach pinning for Lucina. That really wouldn't count as a love square. Actually, that's a lot of genres! And yeah, I also watch Chuggaconroy's LPs. It was thanks to him that I managed to watch Xenoblade Chronicles, since I can't buy the game because it's too rare and expensive here. ****I don't know why, but his videos are just really enjoyable to watch (and he makes terrible puns, so that's also great).**

LegitElizabethWWEFan: **Yeah, it only makes sense they would use protection. ****Hey, you have your reasons for not reviewing, no need to apologize. ****Don't worry, I'm sure Lucina's friendship with the Robins. ****Next chapter I'll definitely try make Robin and Lucina have something nice, quality time next chapter, but who knows? ****That's the best part about writing about Pokemon and other characters with no canon personality. It's all the more fun to try to come up with something for their personalities!**

**I****t's a little cliched, yes, but I like the idea of angst sex, so there. ****Part of it happened because they wanted to forget about their problems for a while, but it also happened because they kind of had this mutual thought of "you really don't know what might happen tomorrow, so let's enjoy each other while we can". Not the best way of thinking, but that's how they are rolling at the moment. ****Frederick looks like the perfect cross of prince charming and knight in shinning armor! Not to mention he's also ****part-time**** butler, I can see why you like him so much! ****Yeah, let's hope that happens soon. Your AUs are fantastic! ****To answer your question: I do plan on writing about 4 or 5 more chapters. I already have the key points and the climax of this story planned, I just need to sort them out. But yeah, we are close to the end.**

WR300: **Oh, then I'm glad you didn't get too much spoilers. They obviously had bought protection before. Obviously. They are always three steps ahead. ****I have no idea what your idea of a ****cliche**** game is, but I'll believe you. **

Bighat12: **I know, right? Crazy Hand being the annoying little brother type just seems to fit him so well! I'm not very fond of the hyper insane characterization he sometimes gets, but whatever. Everyone is entitled to characterize him the way they want, specially since ****he has no canon personality to begin with. ****Yeah, I wouldn't say seducing, as more as it kind of just happened. I think even Rob is surprised at how far they went. Palutena as a mischievous matchmaker makes a lot of sense to me. I don't know why, it just does. ****You and a lot of people have RPG as their favorite genre. That's actually pretty interesting to know! I don't understand what Nintendo is trying to do, honestly. I really don't.**

**A****nyway, here are my questions:**

**-****Would you guys be interested in reading another heavy make out scene (that's as as far as I can get with the T rating)?**

**-****What did you expect to get when you ****first**** started reading this story?**

**-****What's your favorite color?**


	22. Trusting on your instincts

**I apologize in advance.**

* * *

After three very intense and tight battles, Robin was declared the winner after taking Yoshi's last life by throwing an overused Arcfire tome at him when he was too close to the ledge. Even if Yoshi's movements and ways of fighting were very easy to read, she still had some difficulties against him because he just wouldn't let her stop to catch her breath. Either he was too fast, or she was too slow. Probably both. Maybe now she could stop shaking so much from how close she was to losing.

"Hey, Robin," Yoshi said, once they left the battlefield and walked through the stadium's large, gray corridors. "Good job! I had a lot of fun!"

"Thanks, you did a really good job too," she shook hands with him.

"Uh, you sound kind of sad," Yoshi tilted his head. "Is everything okay, Robin?"

"It's nothing. You really shouldn't worry."

"Oh, okay. By the way, you and the guy Robin are very close, right? Do you know what happened with him yesterday?"

"Robin's… Sick, extremely sick," she gave a bitter smile. "That's why I'll be taking over his battles until he gets better."

"I see… Ah, let's hope he gets better soon."

"Yeah, let's."

Robin said her goodbyes to Yoshi and walked away from the little dinosaur. Now that she had some free time before her battle against Ganondorf happened, she would pass by the library to do some research. If she could recall correctly, there was a subway station nearby, just three squares away from the stadium, that would take her directly to the city's biggest and most extensive library. She would leave through the exit reserved for the Smashers and…

"Robin?"

She cringed, coming to a halt at the sound of the princess' voice that came from behind her.

"Hi, Lucina," she said, hesitantly turning around. "How are you?"

"I'm doing fine. What about you?"

"Could have been better," she scratched her arm. "Listen, I need to go now, so..."

"I wanted to ask you about Robin," Lucina said, going straight to the point. "Is he doing well? I see that you took over his battle, so I'm worried that the incident from yesterday might be at fault here."

"Yeah, something like that. Master Hand ordered me to take over until Rob gets better."

"Robin, what is happening here?" Lucina asked, getting uncomfortably close to her. Or so Robin thought. "Please, tell me the truth. What he had yesterday, from what I heard, it definitely sounds graver than people are giving credit for."

She really just wanted to give some 'he's sick' kind of answer and move on. But Lucina wouldn't really accept that answer, would she? In the end, after all their conflicts, Lucina was still one of Rob's best friends, and Robin would be damned if she kept her in the dark about his current situation. Besides, she could be of help, now that Robin stopped to think about it.

"I'm heading to the library to do some research," Robin said. "Come with me. I'll explain everything in the way."

* * *

_Robin…_

"Hey, Rob?"

_Heed my call…_

"A-Are you alright?"

_You cannot ignore me, you foolish boy! You cannot get rid of me!_

His headaches were getting worse each hour that passed. Rob could only grab his head and shut his eyes tightly, taking deep breaths in order to try to calm down and ignore the pain.

_You were born to serve me! You cannot shut me out, stop struggling!_

"Rob," Shulk called once again, putting a hand on his shoulder. "Is it that Grima thing you told me about?! Snap out of it, Robin!"

The seer flinched as Rob silently grabbed his wrist. His grip was strong, with his nails digging into the cloth of his sleeve, before yanking Shulk's hand off from his shoulder.

"Don't touch me," he hissed, looking at him with hostile dark eyes. "Don't you ever touch me again!"

"Don't let it get to you," Shulk said, instead.

"..."

"Rob?"

He looked around, one hand still clutching his head, and saw the few people there giving odd stares at him. Wendy and Lemmy, who sat by one of the poker tables, were whispering between themselves, with Wendy letting out a chuckle while Lemmy watched him with the biggest interest. At the other side, by the ping pong tables, both Lucas and Ness also stared at him with a mixture of worry and morbid curiosity in their faces.

"...I need to leave," the tactician whispered.

Before Shulk could protest, Rob quickly walked away without saying another word, arms hugging his stomach and head hanging low. He stood there for a while, completely dumbfounded at what he saw, without a clue on what he should do. Should he follow him? Then what? It was obvious Rob would not open up to him. If he pressured him into saying anything, he would only make things worse. He knew that from personal experience.

But Rob really shouldn't be left alone in the state he was in.

"Wow," Ness said as he approached the Homs. "What was that all about?"

"I… Have no idea."

Rob kept walking fast, with his head pounding and his vision becoming kind of cloudy. He ignored the people around him, bumping into some Miis' shoulders twice before he arrived at the elevators. He pressed his floor's button and rested his back on the wall, shaking as the voice continued to taunt him.

_Give up. Your body always have belonged to me._

He could see a shadow creeping down from the ceiling, sliding right towards him.

"I'm seeing things," he mumbled, shakily inching to the corner. "It's not real. He can't get me here… He can't..."

What was he saying? That was too fucking real!

Luckily for him, the elevator stopped on his floor and Rob bolted out before the shadow could get him. If it was following him or not, Rob couldn't care less about knowing the answer, but he would not take chances. He ran towards his room at the end of the L shaped corridor and locked himself up.

* * *

Lucina's jaw dropped as both she and Robin stepped inside the grand library, having to take a few seconds to simply admire the scale of the building, with its three floors and thousands and thousands of books being displayed on the shelves. The light shone down through the colorful stained glass and painted the wooden tables in warm colors, making the place look a little livelier and less boring to Lucina.

"I've been here only once," Robin quietly commented. "Wish I came here more often though. It has more books than I could ever find at the stores."

"Well, where should we start then?"

"Search for anything that can be related to his condition. Health care, spiritual books… As long as we can get get something, I don't care if we find the solution in a three year old, uncredited magazine."

Lucina nodded and they parted ways, each going to different sections and gather as many books as they could. Robin passed by the health and all things medicine related section, while Lucina got the more miscellaneous books, mostly spiritual and psychology ones. Nothing she actually knew about, but it wasn't as if she had any clue of what to make about Robin's condition.

After searching for about fifteen minutes, the two Smashers brought their respective piles of books to a large, round table located at a more secluded area, far away from the entrance and from where most people sat. They sprawled all the books they could find and sat fairly distant from each other, preferring to focus their thoughts on the books. And for a while, they didn't exchange a word. Lucina had no idea what Robin was reading about (she could only guess it had to do with the human brain, considering the brain picture that took over half of the cover), while Robin simply didn't raise her eyes from the pages to acknowledge Lucina there.

It seemed like hours until one of them decided to say something. "So," Lucina closed her book, "Any progress?"

"Not really..." Robin said, putting her book down. "I found explanations of the structures of the brain, chemical and electrical synapses, some curiosities about the phases of sleep, differences between REM sleep and non-REM sleep… But nothing that can help us."

"I had no luck either. Most of these spiritual books say the same thing about the connection to one's aura with their mental and physical health," she flipped to a random page. "Well, here it says that some gem stones do have powers to cleanse any negative energies, but I don't think they would be useful."

"If only a bunch of gems could punch an evil dragon out of someone's soul," Robin said, resting her chin on her hand. She had to admit though, the simple idea of a bunch of rocks taking human form and punching Grima did amuse her.

"Well, from what I can understand, Grima is the reason why Robin has been sleeping very little, right?"

"Yeah, it is. Rob is scared of going back to sleep, and when he does, it seems like he had no rest at all."

"Maybe he is doing this to slowly break him?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, if Robin doesn't get proper sleep, his mental state and health will deteriorate and he'll become weak. That would make easier for Grima to take over him, right?"

"Makes sense," she mumbled. "A lot of sense, actually."

"Still, I can't think of anything that can help him," Lucina sighed and closed the book, setting it aside to brood as well.

There was another awkward pause between them, not helped by the crushing silence of the library. It was very clear that Robin was silently debating with herself about something and Lucina already had an idea of what it was. But she would say nothing. Whatever she had to confess to Robin she already did, so she wouldn't stress herself over giving the first step.

"Um, Lucina," Robin whispered, looking downwards and fidgeting her hands. "Can I ask you something?"

"Yes."

"I'm… Curious."

"Yes?"

"About what you told me yesterday," she could feel her cheeks turning red. "How long have you…?"

"How long have I been infatuated with you?"

"Yeah. How long has this crush been going on?"

"I have no way of properly answering that," Lucina said, crossing her arms and resting her back on the chair. "For a while, I suppose."

"Right… So you only ignored me this entire time because of this?"

"Well, no and yes. I avoided you because being near you made me feel weird, but I had no idea why. So I guess… I didn't do it intentionally."

Robin went back to reading another book, her eyes clearly not showing interest on what she was reading. Oh, Lucina would not let this conversation die! She would not let Robin hide behind those pages. "Robin," she quietly said, forcing the tactician to put down her book again. "Now I want to ask you something."

"What is it?"

"How was the Lucina from your realm?"

"Uh?"

That came out of nowhere.

"Were we friends in the world where you came from?"

"Oh, um," Robin crossed her arms. "We used to be good friends, that's why in the beginning I was kind of shocked at how distant you were. Granted, we were not as close as you and Rob are, but still, we were on good terms."

"Did I act any differently?"

"Not much, really. But after your confession, you got me thinking about the Lucina from my world. I wonder if she-"

"I don't doubt it," Lucina cut her in, not wanting to hear the rest.

"Heh, it's kind of funny, you know?" she gave a bitter smile. "We used to be good friends, but I could see something always kept her on the edge. This entire time I thought it was because of my connection to Grima, or because she was so afraid that I was trying to seduce Chrom, that-"

"Wait, wait, wait! What?!" Lucina exclaimed, wincing immediately once she realized how loud she sounded. "I cannot seriously have thought that you were trying to seduce my father!"

"But you did," Robin said, not being able to hide her smile. "You were so afraid that I was trying seduce him that you kept following me through the camp, watching my every movement."

"Oh, gods," the princess buried her face on her hands. "I can't believe other me would do this. I'm so ashamed!"

"You apologized before, don't worry," she suddenly began rubbing her arm, eyes looking away. "To be fair, it's not like she was totally wrong."

"What do you mean?"

"I kiiinda, maaaaybe used to have a crush on Chrom."

"So I – I mean - She WAS right!"

"Lucina, your voice."

"So you WERE trying to seduce father," she hissed.

"I wasn't trying anything!" Robin protested, her voice also a whisper. "Chrom never saw me as anything but a friend and I respected that. Besides, when I began thinking about confessing to him, he suddenly announced that he and Maribelle were in love and that they would marry, so..."

"Maribelle?!"

"Yeah?"

"Father married Maribelle?" Lucina asked in disbelief. "How did that happen?"

"You mean Maribelle isn't your mother?" now it was Robin's turn to be surprised.

"No, my mother has always been Sumia."

Before she could say anything else, Robin had moved from her chair to another one, sitting way too close for comfort to Lucina. Her heart skipped a few beats as the tactician cupped her cheeks with her hands and stared fixedly into her face with those dark eyes of hers and thin lips firmly shut. Her cheeks kept getting redder the more the seconds passed by and all she could do was firmly grip on the seat of her chair, nails digging into the varnished wood.

"I can't believe this," Robin finally said. "I can't believe I've never noticed this, but it's true! There's no way you can be Maribelle's daughter."

"I-I told you so..."

"The differences are very subtle, but they're there. Your face is slightly rounder than the other Lucina's face and the corner of your eyes are kind of droopy," Robin's grin only got bigger. "You definitely have Sumia's eyes, even if the color is not the same."

"U-Um… Thank you?"

"Why are you…" she blushed, "Oh, right. Sorry about this."

Lucina hid a sigh as Robin took her hands off from her face, the slight brush of her fingers on her skin sending a shiver down her spine.

Ah, if only…

"I wonder what other marriages ended up different in your world," Robin mused.

"Well then," Lucina said, trying her best to act natural. "Shall we continue?"

"Yes, of course."

They resumed their research a few seconds later. For some odd reason, Robin really didn't feel like returning to her other seat.

* * *

Robin gave a sigh as she entered the elevator, frustrated at how little progress she and Lucina made at the library. They had spent about four more hours there and would have spent more, if it weren't for the fact that both still had to attend other battles, with Robin having to face against Ganondorf, while Lucina went against Ness.

It was now five in the evening and Robin was as tired as she could get. Not only that, but she was also hungry, since she never got to have lunch this entire time. Maybe she could eat something at her room before they started serving dinner. She wondered if Rob was back at their room, only to get sadder with the thought that it was very likely that he had returned to it after breakfast and spent the day there. If that was the case, she would make sure to drag him out and spend at least a few hours outside.

"Ah, you're the girl Robin," said a squeaky voice bellow her.

Robin looked down and saw one of the Koopaling kids staring at her with crossed eyes. What was his name again? Larry? No, Larry had green hair. Or was he the one with blue hair? She knew his name started with an L though.

"Can you tell your brother to go see a doctor?" the small Koopaling continued. "He's starting to freak everyone out."

"He's not my brother. And why are you saying this?"

"Because he had a brain stroke this morning."

"HE WHAT?!"

"He then hissed at Shulk and ran away! It was so weird!"

Okay, so Rob didn't have a stroke. It was just this kid terrorizing her. Still, she was so nervous about his condition these days, that if Wario suddenly told her that a grimleal appeared and stole his brain, she would have believed him.

Maybe not believe him, but she would stop to think about it for a few seconds at least.

_Bling!_

Robin dashed out of the elevator, completely ignoring the Koopaling's presence and ran as fast as she could to their room, forcing herself to an abrupt halt once she reached her door. Even if he was lying, she had the dreadful feeling that there was some truth behind his claims. She hoped it was all paranoia.

"Rob," she called, hastily unlocking the door. "Rob, are you in there?"

She cautiously entered their room, as if the most abrupt movement would scare him. Robin didn't know if she should feel relieved or not for finding him sleeping soundly on his bed, wearing only his tank top and loose pants. Or at least she thought that he was sleeping.

"Robin?" he asked, sitting up on his bed. "I thought you would arrive later."

"Oh, good, you're here," she said, taking her boots off and throwing them to the side.

"What's the matter?"

"I've heard you had another breakdown this morning. I got worried."

"You don't need to worry. I had a minor headache, but it was nothing bad."

"That's not how that Koopaling made it sound like..."

"And you're going to trust the word of a Koopaling?" Rob raised an eyebrow at her.

"But why would he say something like this?"

"To screw with your head? I mean, these are the same kids that keep helping Bowser with kidnapping Peach and scaring Luigi with the same cheap trick of jumping out of corners with scary masks."

"They do that?"

"I've seen them doing it a few times," Rob shrugged his shoulders. "Trust me, Koopalings are all pests."

Robin still wasn't fully convinced. He seemed very calm, acting like nothing had happened. Maybe the Koopaling was just screwing with her head and nothing had happened. Yet, there was something in the way he talked that just seemed… Off.

"Well, if you say so," she crossed her arms. "Still, are you feeling okay? How long have you been here?"

"I got here not too long ago," he lied.

"..."

Robin decided to not say anything and just quietly went to get something on the fridge. Honestly, she had no idea if she should trust her intuition and keep trying to get the truth from Rob, or if she was just being incredibly paranoiac. She grabbed a pack of chips and sat cross legged on her bed. Rob just watched her mindlessly open the bag and munch the chips, wondering what was going through her mind.

"Robin."

"Hm?"

"You're still worried."

"Oh, you _think?_"

She could hear him getting up and slowly walking towards her. Rob sat in front of her with crossed legs and it took a few seconds for her to look at him in the eye. "Rob," she said, inching a little closer. "Are you sure you are okay?"

"I am now."

His face was still pale and showed the exhaustion from all those sleepless nights, but his voice sounded so confident. His pose didn't match his appearance at all.

"By the way, I saw your fight against Yoshi," he said, placing a hand on her cheek. "You were amazing!"

"Too bad my fight against Ganondorf wasn't the same," she mumbled. "I can't believe I stood near the ledge and he dragged me down by the collar… Twice."

"The tournament is just in the beginning. We have plenty of time to make our score better."

"Yeah, you're right. Anyway, do you want to go have dinner later?"

"I'm not feeling hungry at the moment," Rob said, mindlessly stroking his thumb on her cheek.

"That's why I said later."

"Maybe, then."

"Hm..."

He brought her face closer and planted a kiss on her lips, giving Robin no time to react before he gave another one a little rougher and more forceful. "You don't need to worry," he said, once they broke apart, giving her a moment to breathe. "Nothing is going to happen to me."

Robin just pressed her lips firmly and gave him one last questioning look, before giving up and throwing her arms around his neck. She locked lips with him, giving sloppy and uncertain kisses, only to have Rob return them with hungry and rough ones. He quickly took the lead and pushed her down the mattress, hands trailing from her cheeks to her scalp, needy fingers running through her long locks.

"Rob..." she moaned between kisses. "Are you..."

"Nothing… Will happen..."

He licked her lips, making her part them just enough for his tongue to invade her mouth. Robin gasped and tried to keep up, but found herself lost at what to do, at how to synchronize with him. She tried compensating this by running her fingers over his back and neck, but even then it didn't do her any favors, as Rob suddenly stopped everything he was doing to give her a condescending look.

"Robin, just relax," he whispered, going straight for the nape of her neck.

She was relaxed… Wasn't she? She was just a little distracted, that's all. She muffled a quiet moan as she felt him nibbling at her skin, his teeth lightly digging at just the right spot to make her stomach heat up. Robin started to loose herself as the seconds passed by, slowly forgetting why she was nervous at first. Gently, she began to stroke his hair, while her other hand just kept massaging his back. As her breath started to get heavier, he switched sides, now alternating between kissing and sucking on the base of her neck and occasionally her collarbone. Robin let out a whimper as she felt him hit a weak spot, making her shiver from the pleasure.

"Ah..."

Rob pulled back, taking a moment to admire his lover slowly unravel bellow him, the blush in her cheeks giving a stark contrast with her pale skin, just so he could return to her lips with the same ferocity from before. Robin at that point just let him do whatever he wanted, giving in to every kiss he stole. Both of his hands were working at once, one letting go of her hair and resting over her stomach, while the other lovingly stroke her cheek.

Robin could feel his hands slowly traveling up her stomach, resting over her chest for a moment before reaching her collarbone, almost reaching for her neck. She paid no mind to it at first, too engrossed in the rest of their make-out session to care. It was only when she felt his other hand going from her cheek to her neck that a red flag turned on in her mind.

"...Rob?" she asked, opening her eyes, her lips breaking apart from his, her face still mere inches away from his. "What is it?"

His face was incredibly pale and his forehead was sweating, but what really caught Robin's attention was his eyes. His look was one of pure fear.

"R-Robin..." he stuttered, his voice hoarse and his hands trembling, slowly closing on her neck. "Run… Please..."

Her first reaction was to grab both of his arms as suddenly he pressed his hands against her throat. Desperation kicked in full force as she tried to pry his hands away, only to have him press them harder. She kicked and struggled, nails desperately scratching his wrists to the point of making them bleed, her panic growing the more he continued to choke her with probably the coldest stare she had ever seen on his eyes.

Robin wanted to shout, to tell him to snap out of it, but no sound could come out from her throat except for panicked, guttural noises. Her vision was already starting to become cloudy, she was starting to see black botches from the lack of air. Tears were falling down from her eyes as she continued struggling and kicking, her face becoming blue.

No, no, no! That had to be a nightmare! That wasn't Rob, that was some twisted, cruel version of him!

Oh gods, she didn't want to die like this…

Without thinking logically anymore, Robin let go of his now bruised wrists and placed a hand on his cheek. She didn't dig her nails on his face, or gave him a strong slap, she simply caressed his cheek in the same way she would when comforting him at night.

"Robin..." his eyes widened in shock, a hiccup escaping from his throat.

She felt his grip loosen, not completely, but just enough for her to move and headbutt his forehead. Rob recoiled immediately, pressing his hands on his forehead in pain, giving Robin the opportunity to get him off from her and stumble out of her bed. She clumsily got back at her feet, coughing violently from her still burning throat, and made a dash towards the door, not once looking back.

"Were do you think you're going?" he growled. "Come back here!"

Robin opened the door and, once outside the room, made sure to keep pulling the door close, since the door unlocked automatically from the inside. "Robin!" she heard him shout from the other side, his fist banging the door. "Let me out!"

She kept pulling the handle, struggling against him in order to keep him inside. Robin had no strength to shout for help, she just kept pulling without a second thought.

"LET ME OUT! LET ME OUT! LET ME OUT!" he screamed, violently shaking the doorknob.

"S-Someone… Anyone, please..."

"Hey, what's going on here?"

Robin yelped in fear and almost lost her grip on the handle. Behind her stood Captain Falcon, who kept staring at the tactician with a worried and alarmed look on his face. He had been resting at his room when he had heard all the commotion, so he decided to go out and check it out what was happening, only to find the girl Robin sobbing as she tried to keep the door to her room closed.

"Falcon, p-please help me!" she whispered. "Rob isn't being himself, he's trying to hurt me!"

"Hurt you?! You're having a fight or...?"

"Just… Help me! I can't keep the door closed for too long..."

The racer had absolutely no idea what was going on, but from her messy hair and crying voice, he just knew he had to do something.

"Let go of the door."

"But-"

"Trust me, let it go. And once you do, I want to do get out of the way as fast as you can, okay?"

Robin weakly nodded and counted to three. Taking a deep breath, she let go of the handle and jumped to the side, giving way for Captain Falcon to run towards the door. Rob burst the door open, only to be met by swift and precise punch in the stomach that knocked him out cold. The captain grabbed him before he could fall, still rather confused about the whole situation between the Robins.

"Hey, Robin," he turned to the sobbing tactician on the floor. "What the hell just happened?"

"Ah, Rob!"

She got up from where she sat and tried to take her unconscious lover away from his arms, but was stopped by him putting a hand on her shoulder and gently pushing her away. "Hey, he tried to hurt you, didn't he?" he asked. "Maybe it's best you don't get near him."

"He wasn't being himself!"

"Even so, he still tried to hurt you."

Oh, crap, the girl Robin couldn't stop crying! And now he had an unconscious Smasher in his arms to make things worse. What had he gotten himself into?

There were some Miis leaving their rooms to see what the commotion was all about. Two of the Villager kids (one being the boy in purple shirt and the other being the one in yellow and black shirt) were also there, watching the scene unravel without knowing if they should interfere or not.

"Hey, you two!" Captain Falcon called them out. "Go find Master Hand now. He needs to know what's going on."

Both boys nodded and quickly left the scene, while Captain Falcon took Rob back to his room and carefully placed the unconscious tactician on his bed. Robin followed him suit, trying to stop her tears and failing miserably.

Her trembling hands gingerly pressed on her bruised neck, making her wince and regret touching it. She instead clutched the collar of her shirt.

"Oh, Robin..." she whispered.

* * *

**Okay.**

**So, I don't know if you guys noticed, I changed the genre of this story from humor to drama. I thought that after the latest chapters, having this classified as humor wouldn't fit. Now everyone give a round of applause to Captain Falcon, the true hero of this chapter! I wanted make Robin babble more about what she found about the brain and how the sleeping process works and etc, but I didn't think it would be that interesting. Not to mention that would be more of me just showing off what I know about a subject that I failed and will have to do again, so there.**

Chess game: **And then they go nowhere, but they still try to play chess time and time again.**

Kuromiluz909: **Well, here's the make-out scene. I'm so sorry for everything else that happened after that. And no, Shulk won't end up with a love interest. This is something I'm very certain it will happen. I don't actually ship Shulk with a lot of people and I can see him ending alone in this story just fine.**

SmashBrosFan96: **He may be looking out for Rob, but one thing is not wanting to leave, the other is not being able to leave. It kind of sucks when you have your freedom of choice being taken away. ****Who knows? Shulk's vision was really odd. Let's see if it will really happen or not. ****Air hockey is really fun and I can imagine them getting into a really heated competition. I wonder if Shulk would have time to react when he had a vision though. ****Xenoblade is really long, I'll give you that. I did skip the video that were only side quests because I just wanted to get to the main story, so that helped a little. ****Don't worry about not being able to play Smash, I'm not really mad. Send me a PM when you think you'll be able to play! And no, I'm not going to buy Palutena amiibo. I hate it that she's an Amazon exclusive and how difficult they are going to make to find her for a decent price because of this.**

PozzyP: **Yeah, I have no idea why either. I mean, Lucina and Robin (F) inside a closet. Who would want to see that, right? ****In the end, I ended up writing the make-out scene and it turned out longer than I expected. I'm not really into the whole "Grima is back" thing either, mostly because it's too easy to write about. The Grima in this story is just a shadow in Rob's heart/aura/mind, so it's not like it's the real thing. **

WR3000: **Shhh, you didn't see anything. It has always been Colony 9. I don't make mistakes. ****Well, I hope you didn't skip the make-out scene entirely, because it was kind of important this time. ****Of course I know what you thought first, and to be fair, I would think the same thing.**

Makokam: **Oh, so it was you! Well, I'm taking your advice to hearts and reading my sentences out loud and double-checking. I hope it's paying off. Master Hand is not known (in my headcanon) for being subtle, he'll just say whatever he wants the way he wants and that's it. True, that could have worked too. Yeah, I can imagine him saying "oh, right, you guys sleep. I don't sleep, so deal with it". I think that after what happened now having sex will be a little complicated for them, but if things get better, they should totally do this. ****I hope I didn't disappoint. **

Smash King24: **Glad to see you here again, Smash! It's always fun writing about the Smashers doing mundane things. I find them a lot more fun to write about than battle scenes, to be honest. ****You got almost everything right, except for Shulk and Roy. Shulk is not interested in Lucina and Roy just hit on her because he thought she was cute and reminded him of Marth. ****I'm trying to imagine what would happen if Rob wasn't quarantined and went to fight Yoshi. It probably wouldn't end well either. ****When said that, I was just speculating the amount of chapters, but I really want to focus more on the main plot for now, so that's why I said we're getting to an end. Who knows what might happen? I'm so glad I'm not disappointing! Really, I am!**

**As for your question… That's a though one. ****I think I would invite Shulk. I like how calm and collected he is. **

NitroTheKidd88: **I don't know. **_**Are you?**_** After this chapter, what do you think? ****You don't need to say sorry for that. It's really cool when people are trying to figure it out what will happen in your fic. ****To be fair, it's very easy to imagine Chrom being the saltiest person in existence. I mean, he is used just as an accessory for Robin's final smash and victory pose. AND he now is a Mii costume. I would be salty if I was him. ****Those books are deadly! There were a few times I've actually killed with them. They were by far my favorite ones. ****Well, to be fair, I'm also kind of shocked at how dark this is getting.**

Herman2000: **I know what you mean, but that wasn't the last time Shulk ever had this kind of talk with Rob. Or with Robin. I plan on making him a little more involved, even if only because the Robins situation makes him have war flashbacks. ****Oh, I've actually seen your reviews on Pozzy's story. Yeah, I can already have an idea of what you like to focus in a story. ****I asked about color just because. I think it's interesting. The alternate costumes also fight, it's just that they don't have as much battles as the default fighters. So, say, if there were four battles in one day, Robin (M) would have to attend three, while Robin (F) would just attend one.**

Bighat12: **Yeah, I've tried too. It's pretty hard to get out of a dream, even from ones that aren't that scary or horrible. ****I like to imagine Rob (and Robin) had a fling with one of the Shepherds, but I have no idea who they might be, so I'll leave it ambiguous. ****Lucario just looks like this really neutral and calm guy, but also kind of lonely too. ****That's what I like to imagine him as anyway. ****That would be pretty gross, good thing that doesn't actually happen. As if Wario using his fart to attack wasn't enough. ****You were not wrong, this story was supposed to be fluff with a small plot in the beginning. ****That last quote speaks to me on a spiritual level. Thank you for that.**

**I ****feel like this question is kind of inappropriate for this chapter in particular, but I'll just ask anyway, because it's a classic and has to do with this story:**

**-Okay, so suppose you are trapped in a room for one hour with a clone of yourself. ****This clone will disappear in one hour, so you have exactly one hour to interact with him/her/they before they are gone from existence and nobody remembers them (except you). ****Do you fight or fuck? (or kiss or argue, we can go through the less extreme option too) ****I'll twist this question a little and say if you're straight, the clone if of the opposite sex, if you're gay/lesbian, it's an exact clone, if you're bi/pan if can be whatever sex or gender and if you're ace, I can safely assume you would fight yourself.**

**No, just talking is not an option. Talking is boring.**


	23. ID (Erasure)

**If we could get this story to 200 reviews with this chapter, I would be extremely happy.**

* * *

No sooner than later Master Hand appeared outside of the Robins' room, causing a large boom that shook the now emptied corridor, clearly displeased at what the Villagers told him of what had transpired a few minutes ago. From where he stood, he saw the female Robin seated on the edge of her bed, watching someone (probably the male Robin) with Captain Falcon, who stood by her side with crossed arms, since he couldn't just leave her alone after everything that had happened.

Since he couldn't pass through the door to her room, he told her to come outside and tell him everything that had transpired in that room. Robin explained what had happened between them, only lying about what got her in that situation, instead telling him she just sleeping when Rob decided to strangle her.

"Strangle you?!"

Master Hand gently lifted Robin's head with his index finger and examined her neck, letting out a sad sigh as he saw the prominent red marks imprinted on her skin.

"H-He wasn't being himself… I just know it..."

"I don't doubt about it, but I cannot let something like this pass. You almost got killed, Robin! And by another Smasher no less!"

"So what are you going to do now?"

"Captain Falcon, bring the male Robin here," Master Hand said, turning his attention to the full-time veteran. "He is going to be under my watch until I decide what I'm going to do with him."

As Captain Falcon brought the still unconscious Rob in bridal style with relative ease, Master Hand turned his attention back to Robin. "Robin, I will call Doctor Mario to examine you and see how grave your injuries are. Please go to his clinic immediately. He will be there as soon as possible."

Master Hand took Rob from his arms, ready to teleport back to his office, when Robin asked, "What's going to happen when he wakes up?"

"For a while, maybe it's for the best that he remains asleep."

And with that said, Master Hand disappeared, taking Rob away with him.

* * *

Twenty minutes later, Robin headed to Doctor Mario's clinic for a check-up. It was a small establishment located at the other side of the hotel's street, facing the Smash hotel up front. The tactician couldn't help but feel like the only reason why it wasn't located inside the building was because Master Hand really couldn't find a good place there to install it. After all, it was still technically part of the hotel. It was THE to go place for ill or injured Smashers. Maybe it was because it was solely reserved for Smashers and no one else that he decided to separate the clinic from the hotel. Robin couldn't understand it very well, but that seemed like a good hypothesis.

She patiently waited on one of the waiting chairs, mindlessly staring at her phone's screen without doing anything with it. Doctor Mario arrived a few minutes later, apologizing for taking so long and immediately guiding the tactician to his clinic. Robin watched him heading towards his coat hanger, changing from his battle coat to a cleaner one, all while quietly waiting with crossed arms.

Doctor Mario was a curious case of a fighter. He was a Smasher with a vast medical knowledge, so he spent more time working as the Smashers' physician than participating in fights. Whenever someone suffered through an illness or any other mild injury, it was usually Doctor Mario who would take care of them. It was he who receipted most medicines and did their check-up routines, so he was very respected among his fellow fighters, even among the most despicable ones, like Bowser or Ganondorf.

"Well, I certainly never expected for Master Hand to tell me that there was a case of strangling of a Smasher by another," the doctor said as he approached her. "Not even Link and Ganondorf have reached this level, and Ganondorf actually broke his arm during a fist fight outside of the battlefield in their first tournament together."

"It's like they say, there's a first time for everything," there was a bitter tone in her voice that was ignored by him.

"Alright, Robin, I will need you to lift your head a bit."

Robin lifted her head as she was told, but flinched once she saw his hands getting closer to her neck. Her shoulders got stiff and her eyes widened, an understandable reaction to the physician.

"It's okay, I just need to see if there aren't any grave injuries," he gently reassured her, lightly pressing his calloused fingers over her red marks.

"I know! I just… It's kind of hard not to..."

"You've been recently through a big trauma. It's a completely normal reaction," Doctor Mario used his thumb to lift her chin more. "Hmm… On the surface, you don't seem too have anything that can become a problem in the future. These marks should disappear in a few minutes and your voice should return to normal too in no time."

"That's good to hear," Robin said, stepping away from the doctor as soon as he finished examining her.

"You are very lucky! It takes only a few seconds for a victim to lose consciousness when being strangled. If you didn't get the other Robin away from you in time, you would have fainted and then… Well, if he was out to kill you..."

"So am I going to be alright?"

"I suggest you pay close attention and see if there isn't anything out of ordinary with your throat. If these marks don't disappear, if they become blue or if you feel any other strange symptom, I need you to come see me immediately."

"Okay, thanks a lot-"

"Wait, wait, wait!" the doctor said, squinting his eyes at the base of her neck. "Robin, could you move your vest collar aside for a bit? I think there's a bruise there that needs some checking."

But that wasn't a place where he could have stran-

Oh.

"I-It's alright," she said, trying to cover it up with her loose hair. "I don't think it's anything important!"

"Nonsense! If it's something grave, I need to see what it is."

There was just something in his glare that made Robin give up on fighting against him. With a groan, the tactician moved her hair and collar out of the way, revealing a purple bruise near her collar bone.

"That's one ugly bruise you got there," he commented, tracing his index finger over it. "Care to tell me where you got it?"

"...When I was getting chocked?"

"Robin, please tell me the truth. This is nowhere near where the other Robin put his hands on you."

"I… Don't really want to talk about it," she said, her cheeks red from embarrassment. "It's nothing, really."

But Doctor Mario was already connecting the dots. And Robin had no idea where to hide her face.

"Robin, if it isn't too much to ask, what exactly did happen between you and the other Robin before his assault?"

Crap.

"We..." she murmured, not looking into his eyes, voice barely above a whisper. "We were kissing in my bed when he snapped..."

There was an awkward pause between them. Doctor Mario simply clasped his hands together and placed over his lips, looking at her with unnerving and judging eyes.

"A-And is that something normal from where you come from?" he asked.

"Wait, what are you… No, we are not siblings!" she hid her face on the palm of her hands.

"Well, I just assumed this since you share the same room and look so similar. And you know how Master Hand is when it comes to Smashers hooking up, so..." he shook his head. "Never mind."

"Listen, can we keep this a secret?" Robin whispered, almost as if she was afraid of Master Hand eavesdropping on them.

"Robin, your secret is safe with me as long as Master Hand doesn't ask me anything about it. I cannot lie to him, but I won't gossip about your love life to him, alright? If he doesn't ask, I won't tell," he tapped her shoulder. "Okay, you are good to go."

She nodded and prepared to leave, wanting to leave that whole awkward conversation in that clinic behind and be done with the evening.

"Oh, Robin, one more thing," he said, making her turn around. "I know it wasn't the other Robin's fault. Master Hand told me he was probably being possessed by an evil entity, as silly as this sounds to me, but still... Maybe it will be for the better that you started dating another person. For your own safety."

She just gave a bitter smile and left the clinic without uttering a word.

* * *

On the next day, Lucina woke up rather late for her own standards, which was still earlier than when some Smashers usually woke up. And while she felt a little bad for that slip in her schedule, since now she had less time to prepare herself for the day, that also meant that, if she was lucky, she could meet up with either Rob, Peach or Lord Marth for breakfast.

She quickly changed into her usual battle attire and left her room, heading towards the cafeteria. There was the smell of freshly baked cake in the air as she entered the cafeteria, grateful for the overall quiet atmosphere it had. Lucina looked around and found Peach seated on a round table, too engrossed with the conversation she was having with Captain Falcon. For a while she wondered if she should interrupt them and ask if she could join in, but Peach had already spotted her and waved her hand at her.

"Lucina, hi!" Peach greeted, followed by a wave of hand from Captain Falcon. "Come sit with us."

She nodded and grabbed a plate with a piece of carrot cake at the buffet, before settling down on their table. However, she could not get herself to eat, since Peach interrupted her with a worried question, "Are you feeling okay?"

"Uh, sure," she answered, confused at both her and Captain Falcon's concerned faces. "Why do you ask?"

"Well, after everything that happened yesterday, I thought you would be feeling pretty down," Peach said.

"What happened yesterday?" she tilted her head to the side.

"You mean you don't know what happened between the Robins?" Captain Falcon asked, surprised at her lack of information.

"What happened?!" she asked again, now a lot more worried.

"Okay, so yesterday I was in my room, just resting, when I heard a big commotion outside. I thought at first to leave it aside, but somehow I had this gut feeling that the girl Robin was in distress, and you know I cannot leave a lovely lady in distress, so..."

"Falcon, get to the point," Peach huffed. "This isn't about you."

"I was getting there! So I got out and saw Robin sobbing on the corridor, trying to keep her door shut with all her strength because she wanted to keep the guy Robin inside the room. Turns out the guy Robin was trying to_ kill her_!" he emphasized the last part, bringing his fist to his toned chest. "So I saved her by punching him in the guts!"

Lucina dropped her fork. And her jaw.

"Where is Robin?" she asked, completely forgetting about her food.

"Which Robin are you talking about?"

"The male one."

"I saw Master Hand taking him away," the racer said, munching on his toast, crumbles flying off from his mouth. "Forget it, Lucina, I don't think he will let you get near him."

"What about the other Robin?" she asked, biting on her thumbnail. "Where is she?"

"Last time I saw her, she was going to see Doctor Mario for a check-up after her assault. Haven't heard from her since then."

"I have to go," she announced suddenly, getting up from the table and heading towards the exit.

Peach also got up, brushing off the crumbs of toast that Falcon accidentally spit on her and followed Lucina outside of the cafeteria. "Lucina, wait! Where are you going?" she asked.

"I will see if Robin is in her room. I need to see if she is doing alright."

"O-Oh, but isn't she avoiding you?" she fidgeted her hands, trying to keep up with Lucina's pace. "Or something like that?"

"Well, one way or another, I can't simply ignore her after this."

"That's… Nice."

"Why don't you come with me, Peach?" Lucina asked, turning around to face her. "I'm sure Robin would like to hear some words of sympathy from you."

Now, it wasn't as if Peach didn't care about Robin. The girl just suffered attempted murder by her psychotic boyfriend, of course she was concerned for her. The problem was that her imagination was getting just a little too wild for her own good.

She could already picture it perfectly in her head. Robin crying on her pillow, being emotionally distressed after being assaulted by the other Robin, all alone and desperate. Lucina would then enter her bedroom, a divine aura surrounding her as she made her entrance, and sit by her side, proceeding to have a nice heart-to-heart with her, telling her that she deserved better, telling her she would get justice and that she would eventually find someone better for her. Robin would then hug her tightly, thanking her for her kind words. She would still be emotionally fragile, in need for someone to reassure her that she was loved and safe.

And of course, Lucina would be there to show her that she was indeed loved. They would stare at each other for a few seconds, slowly forgetting about their problems for a while as they got lost into each other's eyes. Lucina would take the initiative, bringing their faces closer, taking her lips into her own. And Robin would let her, because she was desperate for true love. Their kiss would get more steamy and hot, fingers gently caressing each other, and would then escalate quickly into…

"Peach? Are you listening?" Lucina waved her hand in front of her.

"I am!" she squeaked.

"Then are you coming with me?"

"Sure!" she coughed, trying to tone down the pitch of her voice. "I mean, she must be suffering. Let's go see Robin."

Was that really her worst worries about Lucina going to see Robin because she was physically assaulted? And over a very unlikely scenario? Because really, who would do such a thing, taking advantage of someone's emotional fragility to get a piece of them? Peach couldn't believe how petty she was being, that was a new record for her. She almost felt unworthy of Lucina's friendship. She would leave her feelings aside as much as she could. That was not the time to be thinking with her hormones. Peach would visit Robin because that was the right thing to do, not because she needed to get in the way of a romantic relationship that wasn't there to begin with.

Right.

Both princesses made their way to the fourth floor as fast as they could without looking like they were in a hurry. They reached the Robins' door and Lucina knocked on the door. "Robin? Are you there?" she asked.

There was no response from the other side.

"Maybe she's out having breakfast somewhere else," Peach suggested.

"Robin?" Lucina called again, knocking harder.

Again, no response.

"Well, either she's not here or she is ignoring us," Peach said.

Lucina was quiet for a while, pondering on what she should do before today's battles started. Even with Captain Falcon saying it was useless, maybe she should try to see Robin again. She knew he was under Grima's influence. He had to. What worried her was what Master Hand would do with him because of this.

* * *

Captain Falcon was not kidding when he said Master Hand would not let anyone get near Rob. He took the unconscious tactician to his office and chained him by the wrist to a bed that he took from one of the very few vacant rooms. The only Smasher allowed to get near him was Doctor Mario, only because he needed someone to sedate him. But even so, after he finished his job, he was forced to retire from the office and only come back when he was called.

The only other living being allowed to get near him was Crazy Hand. It wasn't because Master Hand trusted that Crazy Hand would take care of him, it was because he really couldn't keep his younger brother away from his office.

"Awww, look at him sleeping," Crazy Hand gushed, gently poking the sedated Rob in the stomach. "He's really cute like this! Like a doll, or something like that."

"Would you stop pestering him?" Master Hand hissed, slapping his body away. "I'm trying to decide on what I am going to do with Robin."

"Meanie..." he mumbled. "So what are the options here?"

"There are only two options that come into my mind. Unfortunately, I don't like either of them."

"Either kill him or trade his soul for a new one, right?"

"Exactly."

"Bro, I don't know why you're taking so long to create a new soul for him," Crazy said as he mindlessly drifted from one place to another. "If it were up to ME, I would have already done it. It would be a waste to kill him. And creating a new body is boooooring and more tiring."

"I really wish there was another way..."

"Why don't you copy the original Robin's soul again then? Only you take out Grima and erase a few memories," he suggested. "He's already an amnesiac and doesn't remember most of his past anyway! What would be a few more erased memories?"

"Crazy, you need to understand that it doesn't matter what I decide to do with the new soul. It doesn't matter if I start from scratch or try to copy the original Robin again, THIS Robin here will get his existence erased. I will have to erase all his memories and experiences of his life here and make him start from zero."

"Or you could give him to me and let the girl Robin do all the fighting."

"No. He was created to be a Smasher, not your personal toy."

"Then I've got nothing."

Master Hand kept staring at Rob, who continued to seemingly sleep peacefully. He knew what he should do. In theory, he should correct his mistake. He should make sure Robin would not be a threat to the female Robin, or anyone else for that matter. Sure, it would take a while to train for the tournament and have to adjust to his new life all over again, but that would not be difficult, just time consuming. He was sure that in one or two months he would be doing alright.

Still, that was a very long time. Life went on, time wouldn't stop just so the new Robin could catch up with all the other Smashers. If he was like his new project, that would be another thing. Nobody knew about its existence so he could take his sweet time perfecting it, but fans were kind of expecting to see the male Robin back into action soon.

Master Hand let out a sigh. He never bothered getting into details when creating his fighters. Robin was a hero in his home world, he was a good comrade and helped his king save their world from certain destruction. Master Hand just copied him without a second thought about his remaining link with Grima.

At least when he created Pichu, he knew that the ex-Smasher would come out as a problematic fighter. His mistake when creating him was thinking it was a good idea to make a fighter who would easily hurt himself with his own special attacks and would try to overcome his weaknesses. He wanted to see THE underdog story, but it backfired horribly, with Pichu suffering a severe depression over his poor performance and having to quit the tournament because none of the fans liked him.

But Robin? His connection to Grima passed completely under his radar. And, in a way, Master Hand thought the current situation was way worse. He needed to do something about his failure. Even if it was a solution he was not very fond of.

"Well, I could always try to create a new soul for him and give him the basics of his personality," Master Hand mumbled. "It's going to be tiring, but this should take just a day or two and it's way easier than creating a new body. That can be arranged just fine."

"Ah, you're really going down this path?" Crazy asked. "I thought you would take a week to decide until you decided to kill him."

"I can't let him stay asleep for a week, just so I can kill him."

"I can. You wanna bet?"

"No."

"What about his friends? What are you gonna tell them that you're gonna kill their pretty friend?"

"Not kill, reform!"

"Oh, right," Crazy nodded, fully convinced. "Do you think they will be happy?"

"No, not really. But it is necessary. We can't leave him in this state. He's a walking hazard!"

"Oh… I hope the girl Robin doesn't cry much then."

"I'm sure she will get over it soon," Master Hand shrugged it off. "Sure, it will take a while to re-establish her friendship with him, but-"

"I know, right? She's so attached to him! They are always together and smiling at each other and being really, really cute together," Crazy continued. "I bet they even hold hands and cuddle when they are in their bedroom."

"Cuddle?"

"Their friendship is so pure! I'm so sad it will be crushed into tiny pieces. They are the best platonic buddies ever and I love seeing them together."

Master Hand looked at Robin once again. He had been pretty close to the female Robin these past weeks, hadn't he?

"Really, bro, you should pay more attention to the Smashers when they aren't fighting. It's so interesting seeing them interact! I feel like I understand them more, you know?"

"I bet you do..." he mumbled, still not taking his gaze from Robin.

Could it be…?

No, he had no proof.

Either way, he needed to do something about Robin. Maybe it was for the best that the female Robin didn't know before he was done with the operation. After all there was no reason to make her suffer over something she had no saying in it.

But Crazy Hand thought otherwise. It would be such a shame if the girl Robin had her super best friend lose his soul like that without her knowing until it was too late. Even if she couldn't do anything about it, she deserved to know. At least she could hold his hand while he got erased from existence, like she would do when they skipped through a flowery field. He liked to think that was what they liked to do in their free time. It sounded too cute in his mind.

Just like how cute she would look like while she bawled her eyes out.

So while Master Hand took the guy Robin to his laboratory, Crazy Hand dashed out of his office and began his search for the female tactician. He had no idea where she could be, but he had all day to interrogate the other Smashers about her whereabouts.

* * *

**By the way, Master Hand's new project was none other than Ryu. After all, he is the only DLC character up until now that is also a newcomer. All other DLCs are returning characters. Since people doesn't know about him at the time, he could take his sweet time perfecting him. And Peach has a very colorful imagination.**

MagmaProGamer: **Captain Falcon's usual solution for stuff is a good punch. Good thing it worked this time. Glad you're enjoying the story so far! ****I would say ****that none**** of the DLC characters will join the tournament soon, because this story currently takes place on the beginning of the Smash 4 tournament. If we go by that logic, it takes place even before the Wii U version was released, ****despite the Wii U stages appearing in this story****.**

Smash King24: **You give me way too much credit. ****I honestly can't bring myself to write a rape scene, because I believe it would be unnecessarily cruel to both Robins, far fetched and I also don't believe I'm sensible enough to handle it tastefully. ****Not everyone can stop and watch the Robins getting into their emotional drama. I can only imagine if Master Hand actually manages to create a new Robin and some unsuspecting Smashers would be like "Uh, he seems kind of different. Oh well...". ****I put Lemmy ****there**** exactly because it made it easier for Robin to doubt herself. She knew something was wrong, but Lemmy not being trustworthy was the perfect excuse for her to tell herself that she was just paranoid. I'm glad be both think alike that Captain Falcon was essential to that scene! **

**A****bout the sex with clone thing, I find it fascinating because I want to know just how narcissistic people can be (myself included, ****I stopped to think about this question for a while****). ****Now for your question… Realistically speaking, I would hesitate no matter what, ****because I have issues with my own sexuality (really)****. But since we're talking about fictional characters to begin with… One of them would definitely be Palutena! I mean, just look at her! ****She's gorgeous, she's fun and she's a literal goddess. What's not to love about her?! As for a male smasher… I know I'm going to sound pretty obvious, but it would be Robin. ****When I first saw his trailer I had no idea who he was, but all I could think off was "wow, he's really hot, I need to know more about this character". ****It's probably the white hair.**** Yup, I can be that shallow sometimes.**

LegitElizabethWWEFan: **Welcome back! ****Yeah, last chapter was pretty intense. Rob was finally taken over and was forced to try to kill Robin, but not pos****s****essed enough to go through what Grima wanted. ****Like I told Smash, you give me too much credit. But who knows what might happen to Rob? I tend to lie to myself a lot. ****You're very welcome. I'm so happy you enjoyed this chapter this much! ****You would ignore your clone? This is a once in a lifetime chance and you would ignore him? ****You wouldn't even fight him?**

Herman2000: **If Rob ripped Shulk's arm off, I'm pretty sure Shulk would be just slightly upset. ****And he would probably scream. ****I find it funny how you can marry almost everyone in your army and some confessions can be really sweet. From a gameplay point of view, yeah, Chrom marrying Sumia seems to be one of the best options for him. But I just don't like their supports. I think they were too bland and boring. I almost didn't like Sumia ****as a character**** because of them and only changed my mind when I read her supports with other characters. She can be really fun when she's with everyone BUT Chrom! ****I don't think that a brain surgery is what Rob needs, mostly because Grima is not some tumor? Or if you mean a lobotomy, then I'm pretty sure he would also be incapacitated from fighting, and Master Hand sure wouldn't like that.**

Wotahbotah3k: **I apologized to myself for making Robin almost die. Captain Falcon needed some good ass kicking, he just needed. ****Every story would get a seal of quality if they just included Falcon kicking ass. ****It's cool, not everyone will have the same reaction to some scenes. That's what's so fun writing about them, because it's fun to see the different reactions. I said that talking was not an option, but the way you put it, that's also an interesting take on the whole being trapped with your clone thing, gonna give you that.**

SmashBrosFan96: **Lucina has different mothers depending on who you want to marry Chrom to. You can chose to marry him to the same girl in all your save files, but people usually like to change and see what they will get. ****Yeah, I also don't think Koopalings are entirely evil, but since they are troublemakers, I'm pretty sure they would be pretty big liars. Like I said, the Palutena amiibo will be sold for an absurd price and I can't afford to pay this much for her like I did with the Robin amiibo. I promised myself that would be the only time I would pay for an overpriced amiibo, especially now that the dollar here is expensive. ****Think ****that you would do that for science. I think the Tournament mode was a fun idea. I didn't get to test it out, but I like the idea anyway. I thought the mii costumes they made this time really was just rubbing salt on the wound (especially to Chrom fans), but who knows? Maybe King K. Rool still has a chance.**

Makokam: **Well, that sure would make up for an interesting mirror match then. I think you're the only one who said that both scenarios could happen. ****I'm glad it's working, I swear I'm still trying my best on figuring out the oddities. I'm pretty sure Rob would have blasted the door open if Captain Falcon didn't arrive in time. ****Rob not being able to sleep is one of the factors that has been weakening him, but it's not the only one. I'll get into details in future chapters. But yeah, that could be a good start for them. ****Too bad Master Hand wants a quicker solution. I do plan on making Robin talk some sense into Rob and try to help him get his mind off from Grima, but that's as far as I can say about what will happen.**

Bighat12: **Don't apologize for long reviews! I love them a lot! ****You really liked that part? I'm so happy you did! I was kind of afraid that I was rushing things, so it's good to hear you liked it. ****I think they found what they thought they needed so fast because there were different sections with specific topics. So Robin just went to the medicine section and grabbed whatever she could find. ****Maribelle's support with Chrom is really cute! I swear, it was my favorite support for him, believe it or not! The downside is that Lucina won't come out as good as a unit if Maribelle is her mother, but from a story point of view, I thought her supports with Chrom were the best. ****On the other hand, the only possible spouse I can never see him marrying is Sully. I just… Can't see them together. At all.**

**I****t's okay, the only hints I gave on what Koopaling Robin was talking to was that he had crossed eyes and that he was there when Rob was having another headache. ****Lemmy is a very smart kid. Good sir? ****I don't know if that was intentional or not, but just to make sure, I'm a girl, ****lol****. ****Seriously, I'm so glad you liked how that scene was paced! I can't say that enough! ****I think that Captain Falcon yelling Falcon Punch would be pretty silly, so I didn't include it. I can be silly most of the times, but the situation wasn't asking for that this time. **

**I love how you guys are just considering the "fight" or "fuck" options when I stated it could be just "kiss" or "argue". Real****ly. Still, that's another good argument. And yeah, if you are the same, she probably would want the same thing? I don't know. As for that final quote… IGN 7.8/10, too much Joker boner (gotta love old time lingo). **

NitroTheKidd88: **I think Rob would be more on the "Grima, stop stealing my girl!" side, lol! ****It's like a Mexican soap opera, where the evil twin comes to town to try to steal the protagonist's lover because he hates him. ****Except the evil twin here is a parasite that was once an evil god. It happens. ****If only the solution was as simple as a Falcon Punch… ****You know, you're right, that would make an interesting plot for a story. ****I don't know what I might do! I like the universe of this story and it would be fun to explore it more. So maybe? I don't know if I can manage to make another long, multi-chapter fic, but it would be nice write one shots for this story that explored the lives of other smashers.**

**N****ow if everyone is curious, my answer to last chapter's question is, I'd probably try to make out with my clone (for science... obviously), but then we would both regret it and spend a lot of time in the corner without ****having**** the courage to look at each other in the face. Then we would probably play some Smash.**

**Okay, question****s**** time:**

**-****What's your sign? (you can also include your moon and Venus signs, if you know them****/****want to)**

**-What's your favorite Smash Bros character?**


	24. An (un)expected help

**(stern fatherly voice) **

**I am not angry. I am just… Disappointed.**

**Oh, just a heads up, there are going to be some major Xenoblade spoilers here. You might want to skip the part of Shulk's heartfelt moment if you want to avoid it.**

* * *

Lucina patiently paced back and forth, phone in her ear as she eagerly awaited for Robin to pick up. Peach stood by her side, visibly uncomfortable for anyone who would pass by them, except for Lucina herself. Maybe now it wasn't the best part to confess her feelings, what with her friend being worried sick about her best friend and crush's situation, not being in her best mind and whatnot.

But Peach also wasn't in her best mind.

She promised herself that next time she wouldn't hold back. That she would stop suffering with her growing crush and take an attitude. But maybe now it wasn't the best time to take that attitude. So what if both her and Lucina were alone and in any other situation that would be the perfect time to confess to her? The Ylissean swordswoman only had her eyes for Robin, and it wasn't even in a romantic way this time.

Peach watched her talking to Robin, a bitter smile appearing on her face as she realized how her face seemed to glow with hearing tactician's voice. However Lucina's face fell flat after a while, her voice getting quieter and the conversation growing short.

"Oh, alright. I'll be there," she mumbled. "Goodbye."

"So where is she?"

"She's with Shulk at the-"

"PEACHY, GIRL MAAAAARTH!"

Both princesses jumped in terror at the screeching voice that called for them. Before they could do anything, Peach was suddenly swept off from her feet, getting tossed in the air by the huge white gloved floating hand.

"So nice to find you girls around here!" Crazy Hand exclaimed in glee.

"Crazy, put me down! Put me down!" Peach shouted, trying to keep her dress down.

"I feel like it's been forever since we've seen each other," he gently hugged the princess, enveloping her body with his fingers and almost crushing her bones. "I missed you!"

"Let me go..." she wheezed.

He carefully placed the princess on the floor, patting her head with his index finger as she coughed for air. "But really, where were you all this time? I missed you!" Crazy said.

"Around," she said, trying to adjust her dress. "You're the one who clearly disappears to who knows where. Why are you even saying that you miss me? We've talked three days ago!"

"Yeah, but three days is too long!" he whined, before turning to Lucina. "But I'm not here to chit-chat. Girl Marth! You're friends with the girl Robin, right?"

"Could you refrain from calling me girl Marth?" Lucina groaned.

"But you are a girl Marth. Anyway, do you know where the girl Robin is?"

"Why would you like to know?"

"I have things I need to discuss with her."

"Things?"

"Things you don't need to know," he said, a little too condescendingly for their taste.

"Crazy, don't you think that since Lucina is Robin's friend, she also would like to know what you want with her?" Peach asked. "You don't want to worry her for nothing, do you?"

"Oh, Peachy, you're right. Like always."

Thank you, Peach, Lucina thought with a smile.

"I have confidential information about the guy Robin to tell her," Crazy Hand whispered, floating closer to them. A little too close for Lucina's liking. "I don't want to point names, but my bro is thinking about reforming him."

"Reforming?" Lucina asked wide-eyed.

"Yeah, he's thinking about giving him a new soul, completely free from pesky evil dragon gods."

"A new soul?!"

"Miss, you sound like a broken record like this," he commented. "But yes, a new soul. He will have everything about his existence here erased and will be forced to start all over again."

"No… Oh, gods, no..."

Peach was also quite shocked with news like those, but Crazy Hand continued regardless, "That's why I need to find the girl Robin. I want her to be there for him and experience his last minutes, because she deserves it."

"Robin is at the city's grand library! We need to tell her this now!" Lucina exclaimed, turning on her heels and running away.

"Ah, Lucina, wait!" Peach called, following her suit. "I'm coming with you!"

"You can't just go tell her without me!" Crazy screeched, floating towards the princesses. "I told you everything, so you're taking me with you!"

* * *

Robin closed the book she held, set it aside and grabbed another one, opening it at a random page. Shulk could swear she had absolutely no idea about what it was, but maybe now it wasn't the best time to point that out. They have been in that library for about two hours for now and it still felt like there wasn't a lot of progress that they made.

Maybe it had to do with the fact that Robin could barely concentrate on anything. Her eyes were very drowsy, with her sometimes falling asleep for three seconds before her head jolted up. She could not sleep at all last night, instead spending hours seated on her bed, watching, except nor really watching, the faulty television, wanting badly for the night to end so she could get to work. She explained everything that happened between her and Rob to Shulk when they had breakfast together and asked for his assistance in her research, which he happily agreed on doing.

The seer still couldn't believe that Rob would do something like that to someone he loved dearly, which made him wonder just for how long had he lost control of his body to Grima. Was it back then when he and Rob were at the game salon? Or has he lost his mind to him way before and Grima was just a really good actor? In any case, what it mattered was to find a solution.

If only Robin would stop snoozing off.

Robin gasped and shot her eyes open once more, squinting them in order to concentrate on the pages.

"Robin, maybe you should rest," Shulk suggested.

"No, I can't," she let out a long yawn. "My fight begins only after four hours, I have plenty of time to study, but not enough to sleep."

"You're not going to win today's battle like this."

"What? You had one of your visions telling you that I won't?"

"I don't need my vision powers to see that. You're just being irresponsible."

"Ugh..." she rested her head on the table, eyes almost closing again. "I knew something was off back then… Why didn't I trust my instincts?"

"It wasn't your fault."

"I could have done something. Maybe talked to him, tried to bring him back..."

"It's not like you were there when he had his breakdown. You had nothing to backup your suspicions, aside from him acting slightly off."

"I should have… Done something..." she started to doze off again. "Stupid, stupid..."

"Robin, remember when I told you that sometimes you could be pretty self-centered? Well, you're being self-centered right now. Rob getting possessed by Grima had nothing to do with you. What could you have done in that situation? How is that any your fault?"

"..."

"Don't blame yourself for things you had no control over," he said, closing his book. "Focus on what we can do for him now."

"He must be suffering," she mumbled with her eyes closed. "I saw it, Shulk. I could see him gaining control just for a moment there. Just enough for me to escape."

"That's actually a really good thing! If you could reach him, he could gain control again and-"

"But we still don't know how to defeat Grima."

"One step at a time, Robin. At least we know that we can reach him."

"Right..."

Robin could remember how she used to act and think during war times. Confident enough when making plans, only for that confidence to crash down when one of them failed. She would spend hours beating herself up over the most stupid mistakes, even when one of the Shepherds assured her it wasn't her fault. After the war was over, after their confrontation with Grima ended and her attempted double suicide failed, Robin promised herself she would try to get better. That she would be a lot more gentle towards herself.

She thought she was getting better. But seeing Rob like this, haunted by a ghost that they both had to face in the past… It sure was bringing some painful memories for her too.

Robin got up and shook her head, trying to go back to her book. Shulk was right, she needed to focus on what she could do to help Rob now.

"Do you think we can save him?"

"I think so. Maybe this is just me speaking from personal experience, but I believe that, no matter how far deep you think you lost control, there's always a way to get it back," Shulk grabbed another book and turned to a random page.

"Personal experience?"

"Let's just say… You and Rob weren't the only ones who were born to become a vessel to a god," he shook his head. "Though, I can't really say I was born to become one. It's more like... I was revived to become one."

"Shulk… If you don't feel comfortable, you don't need to tell me."

"It's alright. I think maybe it's the time I told you a little more about my past," Shulk took a deep breath and continued, "When I was a child, my parents took me on a research expedition to a place called Harict Chapel, an important sight located at the Valak Mountains, along with a crew. But once we got arrived there… Something happened, I can't remember well what, but everybody died. My parents, the crew… And myself. Everybody was dead."

"But if you were killed when you were a child, then how can you be alive here, looking like an adult? I mean, for you to look like this, you must have looked like this back in your original world, right?"

"At that moment, I got possessed and revived by the former god of my world, a man named Zanza. His spirit laid dormant in my body, while I continued to grow up, unaware that since that day, all I was destined for was to become just a mere vessel for him. By all accounts, the original Shulk is just a corpse who was given a second chance because the god of his world wanted to use him as a pawn for his plan on bringing destruction to all living things."

"I had no idea..."

"Well, it's not like I told you any of that," he gave a sad smile. "But here's the thing that I want you to keep in mind. There was a moment when I got shot by one of Zanza's disciples so he could leave my body. I entered in a comatose state and was left imprisoned inside of my own mind after that. For a moment I thought everything I did was useless, that Zanza had won and that there was nothing I could do. Nothing would change that."

"Then what happened?" she leaned closer, getting even more curious.

"A friend reached out to me and knocked some sense into me."

"...Wow, that sounds a little anti-climatic."

Maybe it was her groggy voice, maybe it was her sheer bluntness, but there was something in the way Robin said that statement that made Shulk have a laughing fit. He had to cover his mouth with one and hand and hug his stomach with his other arm, trying his best to not sound loud in order to not disturb the other people at the library.

"Ha ha, haaa," he tried to regain his composure. "I guess it is a little, ha ha. But don't you see, Robin? It was thanks to my friends, to my connection to my world, that I was able regain my consciousness. I chose to not bound to Zanza's will, not only for my sake, but also for the sake of all the people that were dear to me. If it weren't for them, I probably would never have gained the strength to fight back against the path he wanted me to follow."

"I guess you're right," she gave him a smile. "Thank you, Shulk. I'll keep that in mind."

"There's still hope, Robin. Don't lose it, alright?"

"Alright. But Shulk..." she put a hand on his shoulder. "Are you sure you're okay? You look really pale."

"Well, I can't say I'm okay with telling everything that had happened to me in my past life," Shulk took her hand off from his shoulder. "But I will be okay. I felt like you deserved to know more about my past, even if what I told you was one of my most painful experiences. I felt like it could help you."

"One of your most painful experiences?" she raised an eyebrow at him.

"Robin, please go back to your book."

And he was back to his shut-in self again. Had it been any other day, Robin would have groaned, feeling frustrated with his reluctance of telling her more of his past. She would admit that she usually spent more time talking about herself, but in the end, she did care about Shulk. She wanted to know more about him. The very few times he talked about his life in the Bionis, he would always talk about the good things, about his friends, the people he met and the sighs he witnessed. It almost felt like he had no issues at all.

Oh, well… She would give him some space. That was how he was and she should be used to it by now. Besides, he did trust her with one of his most painful memories after all, in hopes that it would motivate her to not give up on Rob. That in a way really did give her a little more hope. Shulk was right, maybe if they could reach for Rob first, they could find a solution together.

Too bad she was feeling so tired that she heard fell on the table again. She couldn't sleep… She had to do research…

Robin closed her eyes and started to drift off.

"Ahhh, Robin, Robin!" Shulk whispered, shaking her shoulder. "Wake up! I had a vision!"

"Whazzu..." she mumbled, a slim trail of saliva dripping from the corner of her mouth.

"It's Master Hand! He's heading this way!"

"...But why?"

"I have no idea why, but I saw him lifting you in the air and shaking you," he stopped to think about what he just said. "I know this sounds really stupid, but I have no idea if he was angry or not."

"L-Let's leave before he can get here!"

As Robin got up and prepared to leave the library, a piercing screech resonated through the entrance of the library, frightening everyone there and forcing some Miis to take cover under their tables.

"GIRL ROOOOOOBIN!"

The large disembodied hand burst through the large library hall, occasionally bumping into a table or two, before reaching the female tactician at the very end of the hall. He quickly wrapped his fingers over her small body and lifted her from the ground, shaking her left and right. Shulk watched everything unfold completely dumbstruck.

"P-Please let me go..." she whimpered, now wide awake.

"Crazy Hand, let her go right now!" Peach shouted as she and Lucina entered the library. "You're scaring Robin."

"Crazy?" Shulk asked. "You mean this isn't Master Hand?"

"Of course I'm not him," Crazy Hand said, still not letting go of the struggling Robin. "Do you really think bro would leave the hotel if it wasn't a case of emergency? I mean, this is an emergency, but not for him. It's an emergency for the girl Robin."

"For… Me?"

"Master Hand is planning on giving Robin a new soul," Lucina explained, her face growing pale. "He's going to erase his existence here so he can start from zero."

"What?!" both Robin and Shulk exclaimed.

"_Ahem._"

There was a timid cough coming from one of the tables that caught her attention. The Mii hiding under one of the tables was shakily pointing at a sign that read "Please remain silent" on the wall.

"Maybe we should discuss this outside," Peach suggested.

* * *

After Crazy Hand finished explaining Master Hand's plans, there was a sense of dread among the Smashers. Master Hand was essentially going to kill Rob in a day or two and didn't say anything to them. He didn't even try consulting Rob, according to the younger hand! Sure, it was probable that Rob wouldn't listen, given that it was Grima who was currently in control of his body, but he still could have tried.

"He's going to kill him..." Robin whispered, hugging her stomach as tightly as possible. "He's going to kill him and we don't even know what we can do to save him."

"Not kill, reform!" Crazy Hand corrected her.

"He's going to kill him, Crazy Hand," Lucina groaned. "He's going to erase his soul and his memories. What good is there if you preserve just the body, but not the person?"

"At least you already have the body ready? It saves time."

"It saves time for him, but it just makes things even more difficult for us," the tactician started to bite her nails. "One day is not enough time to come up with a solution."

"Ah, Robin, just forget about trying to save him," Crazy said as he mindlessly rocked Peach back and forth, while the princess just laid on the palm of the hand with one arm lazily hanging between his thumb and his index finger. "I just told you this because I wanted you to be there when bro did the operation."

"And accept Master Hand's decision to erase his existence as if he, or we for that matter, have no saying over it? Of course not!" Shulk tightened his fist. "He may have created him, but he has no right to decide whenever he should be alive or not!"

"But..."

"We cannot accept what Master Hand is doing to him," Lucina interjected. "He has no right!"

"It's because there's no cure to- Gah!" the hand groaned. "Peachy, help me out here!"

"Crazy, you know I love you and your brother, but this way I can't defend you."

"Oh, okay..." he said, sounding like a child who just lost a heated argument. "But I can't convince bro to not operate him. He probably already started creating the new soul, you know?"

"If only there was a way to reach out for him," Robin said quietly, eyes glued on the floor and hands still clutching at her sides. "If we could get a chance to talk to him…"

"Yeah, there's no chance he would listen to you," Crazy said. "Bro made Doctor Mario sedate him and he's been sleeping like a baby since then."

"You've got to be kidding me!"

"You mean that Robin won't even know what will happen to him?!" Lucina asked in disgust.

"Nope! But he's not going to suffer like this, see? That's good, right?"

"No," Peach answered.

"Ahhh..."

"Where is Master Hand keeping him anyway?" Shulk wondered out loud.

"In his secret lab," Crazy simply answered.

"He has a lab?!"

"Why would he keep it a secret?" Lucina asked.

"Of course he has a lab! Where do you think you guys came from?"

"We came from a lab?!" Shulk exclaimed, a mix of surprise and curiosity in his voice.

"Yeah," Peach said, her arm still dangling. "Master Hand kinda can't make the Smashers just suddenly appear out of thin air, you know? We were all born from magic and in glass tubes."

"You seem to be taking these news fairly well," Lucina said, looking up at the princess.

"Lucy, I've been in this world for such a long time, nothing about my existence surprises me anymore," she paused for a moment. "Crazy, is there anything else that I need to know about myself?"

"I don't think so… Oh! There is an alternate version of you at some universe that's all flat like paper!"

"What? Really?!" she sat up. "That actually sounds pretty nice. I wonder if Master Hand will turn her into a fighter!"

"Probably not."

"Let's focus on the problem here!" Robin said, growing irritated with the direction the conversation was heading. "Crazy, is there a way we can get to his lab?"

"Sure! I can take you there, if you wanna!" Crazy said in glee. "You gonna go give him emotional support while he dies?"

"No! I want to go there and save him!"

"I still think you're being dumb, but okay. Whatever floats your boat."

"But then what, Robin?" Peach asked.

"Uh?"

"What are you going to do once you get there?" Lucina asked, realizing where her friend wanted to get at. "Robin is still sedated and you still don't know how to bring him back to his senses."

"I know..." she sighed in frustration. "If only there was a way to get inside his mind and pull him out from whatever hole Grima has put him in..."

"Yeah..." Shulk agreed.

"If only," Lucina also sighed.

There was a tense silence among them, with each Smasher and Crazy Hand getting lost in their own thoughts. They needed to take an attitude soon. Time was ticking and Rob could be erased at any hour. It wasn't until a minute later that everyone heard Peach letting out a heavy sigh.

"I can't believe I'm actually thinking this," she said, hiding her face on her hands, fingers rubbing her closed eyelids in irritation.

"What do you have in mind, Peach?" Lucina asked.

"Robin, remember when you said something about if only there was a way to get inside Robin's mind?"

"Yes."

"It's that..." she bit her thumb nail. "Look, I cannot guarantee this is going to work. I don't know if he can help. Or that, if he has the power to help, he would be willing to do it, but..."

"But?"

"I know a guy that might be able to do that. To make you get inside Robin's mind, I mean. Again, I don't know if he actually IS capable of doing this, but-"

"It's worth trying!" Robin said, a hopeful gleam in her eyes. "Peach, at this point, I will try just about anything."

"Ugh, I never liked him that much..." she grumbled, crossing her arms as she spoke. "Pretty sure he didn't like me that much either. This is going to be SO awkward..."

"Peach, I understand that you may not be very fond of this person, but please, you need to help us find him," Lucina pleaded, walking towards Crazy Hand and the princess.

"Oh, alright… Though there's one thing you guys need to keep in mind."

"What is it?"

"He may have a difficult personality to deal with."

* * *

_Oh, and he's also not human._

It was at nightfall when Robin, Lucina, Shulk and Peach (against her will) arrived at the door of the small apartment in front of them. The corridor was dimly lit and there was a sense of dread in the building's atmosphere that left them on edge. It didn't help that everyone was already nervous as it is, none of them being able to concentrate on their last battles at all, with only Lucina managing to win her battles, but only because she was lucky Little Mac accidentally jumped off from the stage and couldn't come back.

Master Hand could kill Rob at any given moment, no one there was in their right mind to think about the tournament for the time being.

"Let's get this over with," Peach mumbled, nodding at Robin for her to knock.

As Robin raised her fist and brought it close to the wooden door, a deep sounding voice resonated through their minds, making everyone jump in a fright.

"_The door is unlocked. You may come in._"

"Would it kill to answer the door like a normal person?" the princess muttered.

They opened the door and entered the apartment. The place was surprisingly well-kept, if compared to the rest of the building, whose walls desperately needed a paint job and floor needed a good scrubbing. The apartment, on the other hand, did have some nice decoration, the whole place looking almost bucolic in a way. The air even had a nice smell of lavender and everything seemed clean and impeccable.

Hardly the kind of place one would imagine that the creature currently floating over the green couch would live in. The best way Robin could describe him would be as a weird cat-like humanoid, but even that would be stretching the description a bit. He looked like nothing she had seen before.

Was that an ex-Smasher after all?

"Hi, Mewtwo," Peach greeted begrudgingly.

"_Princess Peach," _the creature nodded._ "It's been a while. At what do I owe your visit?_"

Peach took a deep breath.

"We need some help."

* * *

**Oh, boy, this chapter was kind of difficult for me to write. Not because I didn't know what to do, but because I want to get to the later chapters soon. So yeah, not much happened here, but I'm just building up for what it's going to happen next. Oh, and about Crazy Hand being all buddy-buddy with Peach, there really is no significance to that. I like to imagine Crazy being closer to the 64 and Melee veterans because Melee was the game he was introduced. And he's even closer to Peach just because when I was younger and would face against Crazy Hand, I would always go as Peach, because I sucked less as her.**

Kuromiluv909: **Well, I'm glad you like the chapters! I have the feeling that maybe I'll end this in four more chapters, if everything go as planned. But I never know. Kirby is adorable, but my favorite smasher will always be Yoshi.**

Gamerfan64: **Oh, cool. So did you like the chapter?**

SmashBrosFan96: **I remember reading somewhere that Pichu was made intentionally weak****so that the more experienced players could use a weaker character and give the less experienced a better chance at fighting against them. Obviously that didn't work well. ****But yeah, he's pretty cute, and he becomes just adorable when wearing goggles. ****I guess everyone has their own version of the Smash lore. I like to think they are clones because of the 64 and Melee openings that showed them as toys/figures, and also because that might explain some OOC moments they have in Smash (Lucina thrash-talking Marth during her victory pose is the biggest example I can think of). ****Palutena is the ultimate waifu, she's the ultimate choice. ****King DeDeDe is a fun character, I can see why you like him so much. And when his hammer clobbers you, I feel the pain for the character. And no, I haven't played any of the WarioWare games. They look fun, but I've never bought any of them.**

Wotahbotah3k: **It's most likely something will break into the lab. ****Sign is that thing each person has depending on the month they were born. For example, I was born in June, so my sign is Gemini. ****Captain Falcon is really cool, I just wish I saw less of him online. And muh-nado boi will forever be in our hearts, I understand you.**

Makokam: **You ****r****eally ****think so****? ****Are my sentences still kind of weird? ****The problem is that it doesn't matter what he decides to do with the new soul, he is basically killing the current Rob. ****That's what is making Robin and everyone else panic. ****But you know, that WOULD be a pretty cute scene to write. ****Don't mind if I do. ****Will Shulk's vision become true? I have no idea (except I do, but I don't want to tell). ****Okay, but you do agree that Lucina and Peach together sounds very cute, right? **

**Heh, ****Virgos**** are usually very organized and just love paying attention to details, ****something tells me there's some truth behind this… Okay, I just believe in astrology in general. ****I'm so sorry for the Lucina you had to face. I really do. You just bombarded her without pity. **

Bighat12: **Well, if something as big as Master Hand suddenly materialized out o thin air, I think there would be a reaction in the air. ****I'm pretty sure Doctor Mario does that only on the weekends. ****Don't forget that Link also isn't made of glass, ****I****'m sure he could have gotten away with just a broken arm****. ****Considering Robin's assault happened in the evening, I think it would take a while until Lucina knew ****about**** what happened. ****Captain Falcon is always a joy to have around and I hope the scene with Peach and Lucina at the end made more sense to you now.**

**T****hat wasn't intentional, but that was a nice ****association. ****Oh, if that's the case, I'm sure you would be able to beat me using Pichu. Like I said, I've read that they only included Pichu so more experienced players gave less experienced ones a bigger chance. ****You're right, he can't just make a Robleganger and not admit it's murder. ****Crazy is just closer to the 64 and Melee veterans. ****As for the rest, he just likes to think he's close to them. ****Oh, I see. Okay, it's cool, I didn't know that either. You just barely became the most evil sign of the whole zodiac. I don't know if you like that or not. ****Oh, so Mewtwo is in your list, uh? Hope you liked seeing him here.**

PozzyP: **Everything is about Captain Falcon! ****I don't know if the "for glorgy" part was a typo or a pun, but I'll save that for a future occasion. You never know when you'll need it. ****Peach would make a great fanfic writer, just saying. Yeah, but at least Olimar doesn't hurt himself when he's fighting. And he had a lot of Pikmin to do the work for him. ****Master Hand isn't just some cold corporate monster. He's really just doing what he believes is the least worst solution. ****Okay, that last Game and Watch oun was pretty good. Kudos to you, Pozzy.**

NitroTheKidd88: **Brace yourself for the feelstorm. Always be prepared. ****Crazy Hand cares about the Smashers in his own way. Master Hand also cares, but he has more trouble showing it than his brother. ****It also took me a while when I unlocked Pichu to realize he hurt himself! I felt kind of stupid at the time, and a little disappointed because I really like Pichu. I always thought he was adorable. ****So you mean to tell me you also fantasize about your crush hitting it on with her crush? (I'm joking, please don't sue me)**

**Y****eah, he's was a wimp before, but I'm pretty sure Ike just got ripped with Anchor Arms. ****He had a lot of time to get buff. ****Oh, so you're also a Libra. I really like Libras. Wait, Ike was nerfed from Brawl? I thought he got buffed (I'm not talking about his physical appearance, mind you). **

**I ****have two questions:**

**-Who ****i****s your favorite character in this story so far? **

**-If you****'****r****e**** planning on playing Fire Emblem Fates, which ****version do you plan on buying****? ****Birthright or Conquest?**

**I****'m torn between them. I'm leaning towards Nohr because of story, characters and aesthetic, but Birthright has the same-sex marriage with Tharja 2 and has the Awakening and Sacr****e****d Stones gameplay. Life is tough. Very tough.**


	25. Just in time

**Okay, so this chapter was supposed to be posted last week, but stuff happened and I had to upload a week later. And by stuff, I mean I traveled to New York and spent about five days there. It was great and amazing, and now I have an adorable Dark Pit Amiibo (I almost screamed when I saw there were only two at Best Buy, after chasing after him since day one) in my very small collection. **

**New York is great, but anyway…**

* * *

"_So you want me to help you __getting inside an unconscious Smasher's mind?_" Mewtwo asked, once everyone finished explaining the current situation. "_I must say, that is quite a peculiar thing to ask me __to do__._"

"We are desperate," Robin said.

"_From what you told me, I can see why. I cannot blame you for acting so desperate. The fear of loosing someone so dear to you… I can sympathize._"

"So are you going to help us?" she asked, hopeful.

"_No, I don't think so._"

"But you said-"

"_I said that I sympathize with you, __not that I will help you._"

"And there he goes," Peach muttered under her breath with arms crossed.

"But why?!" Lucina exclaimed. "Don't you see what is at stake?!"

"_Yes, your friend's life. __Lover, in your case.__ However, I have no business with him,_" Mewtwo shrugged it off.

"Isn't there anything we can do to change your mind and..." Robin paused, furrowing her eyebrows at his statement. "Wait, I never said anything about Rob being my lover."

"_You didn't need to._"

"Don't tell me that after all these years you are still reading people's minds like there's nothing wrong with it!" Peach angrily exclaimed.

There was a collective gasp from the three newcomers, followed by a gruff from Peach. If Mewtwo had the power to read someone's mind, then he should be able to help them getting inside Rob's mind. At least that was what Robin was thinking. Both Shulk and Lucina were still kind of shocked to think about anything else.

"_What can I say? Old habits die hard,_" the Pokemon said sarcastically as he crossed his arms. "_Though I admit I have been getting better at controlling my mind reading powers._"

"Well, then control it better," she snarled.

"_Your passive-aggressiveness is dully noted._"

Robin shook her head, wondering what she could do to convince Mewtwo otherwise. That is until she noticed the sudden discomfort Shulk was showing. He had a strong grip on his Monado that was strapped on his back, switching the symbols that usually showed above his head when he switched between power-ups. His usually friendly blue eyes were full of hostility towards Mewtwo and he was gritting his teeth just a little too strongly.

"Ack, Master Hand never gave me the Purge Arts," he hissed under his teeth.

"Shulk, whatever is the matter?" Lucina put a hand on his shoulder.

"_Yes, Shulk, whatever is the matter?_"

"Oh, don't come with this sarcasm! You can read my mind," he growled. "I'm pretty sure you know what is the matter."

"_I am not doing it at the moment, __if that's what worrying you,_" he raised his paw. "_I was not lying when I said that old habits are hard to die. It is hard to turn my mind off from other people's thoughts. I have been practicing it since I was banned from Melee._"

"Mewtwo used to read his opponent's minds when he fought against them back in the Melee days," Peach huffed, ignoring the Pokemon's roll of eyes. "Don't try to deny it. Your soul knows it's true."

"_I was never going to deny it. Too bad it didn't work for everyone. Ness and Kirby somehow always managed to block my mind reading._"

"Mewtwo, just let me ask you something. Are you capable of helping us?" Robin asked, clearly not caring about Mewtwo's contrived past.

"_Truth be told, I never tried such thing for me to say that I can. __But I suppose it is possible,_" the Pokemon mused. "_In fact, that would be an interesting experiment._"

"So why don't you want to help us?"

"_And get on Master Hand's bad side? I'd rather pass._"

"What can I do for you to reconsider?" she asked, her voice showing a growing desperation. "Whatever you want in exchange, I'll do anything in my power to get it!"

"_Are you __really__ that afraid that once the male Robin will __have all memories erased, __he will never love you the same way he do__es__ now? __Are you that desperate that you are willing to __degrade yourself __to__ beg__ging__?_"

Now that hit a nerve. Robin clenched her fist and bit her lip hard, looking at Mewtwo with pure hatred. Shulk also got up from his seat and looked like he was ready to cut the Pokemon in two pieces with the Monado. Lucina and Peach tried to keep their composure, but it was clear they also were very displeased with his commentary.

"That's it, I'm done," Shulk growled, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Robin, let's think of another alternative. Mewtwo won't help us. He's _too_ good for us."

Mewtwo let out a gruff.

"No," Robin simply said, shaking his hand off. "You know what, Mewtwo? You're right. I am afraid of Rob not loving me anymore if he has his memories erased. He won't live the same experiences, he won't have the same thoughts and he might become a completely different person from who he is now. I'm also pretty sure Master Hand suspects about us and will be more cautious with letting us stay together."

He looked at her with a curious expression on his face.

"But you know damn well this is not the only reason," she continued. "I do care about him, we all do. We don't want to see him get erased like this because of Grima. We don't want to lose our friend, Mewtwo. Even if he comes back, you know it's not going to be… Him. He will be a different Rob."

"_I see._"

"You can read my mind, can't you? Then you know I'm telling you the truth."

Mewtwo closed his eyes and paced back and forth, ignoring the discomfort that grew in the other Smashers. Robin in particular would not relax her shoulders, watching him with anxious eyes, while all that Shulk wanted was to leave that apartment and not deal with Mewtwo anymore.

"_Very well, I shall help you,_" he raised his paw as soon as he saw the hopeful looks he was getting. "_IF you can bring the male Robin here._"

"Oh, nothing can be that easy with you, can it?" Peach groaned.

"_Considering that I was not willing to help because I don't want to get on Master Hand's bad side and I ask nothing else from you, I would say I am being very generous here,_" Mewtwo said, coldly. "_I simply refuse to break into his laboratory. If you want my help, then bring the male Robin and we may try your plan out. This is my only request._"

"I still think we should try another method," Shulk mumbled. "Peach, are you sure there isn't anybody else that can help us?"

"Not as far as I know… I could be wrong, but I can't think of anyone else."

"We don't have time, Shulk," Lucina said as she got up from her seat. "If Mewtwo was not trustworthy, Peach would never have suggested we saw him in the first place. I have faith in him."

"Lucina, you're too kind," the princess commented.

"No, I just really want to believe that there is hope in Mewtwo's powers."

"_Well, we shall see that in a few hours._"

"Thank you, Mewtwo," Robin said, giving him a genuine and hopeful smile. "Thank you so much."

* * *

Once they left the apartment, there was a general agreement that there was no time to waste. They had to get into Master Hand's laboratory and get Rob out of there as soon as possible. If they could talk Master Hand out of his plan of giving him a new soul, that would be great, but nobody had any faith in that thought. If Master hand said no, not only they still would be forced to take Rob away from him, but they would have revealed where they planned to take him. As long as the hand didn't know where they were going, they would be fine for a while.

Master Hand might be omnipresent, but he was in no way omniscient.

Robin asked Peach to go get Crazy Hand to assist her and Shulk, which the princess made no objections against, as she knew she was the only one capable of finding him in such a short notice. Lucina thought it would be for the best that she stood behind and watched over Mewtwo until they returned. It wasn't as if she didn't trust the Pokemon wouldn't be there whenever Robin and Shulk returned, but it was better to be safe than sorry. Peach told her he was prone to changing his mind about something at the last minute, so she would make sure that that would not happen.

The plan in theory was very simple, at least at first. Robin and Shulk would get inside Master Hand's laboratory with Crazy Hand's help, find Rob there and take him away to Mewtwo's apartment with help from Crazy Hand's similar powers of teleportation.

That was to say, it was a simple plan, as long as Master Hand wasn't there, which was highly improbable, considering the new soul he was creating must have been nearly complete up to that point. It had already been a day since he started making it, according to what she could deduce, so of course he would be there. They would need to get near Rob and get him without Master Hand's interference. If only they could distract him from Rob, somehow...

"It's okay," Shulk said once they arrived at the hotel. "You and Crazy can go get Rob out of there. I will distract Master Hand."

"Don't worry, Crazy will make sure you get out of the lab before Master Hand can get you," Robin said, putting a hand on her chin.

"Still, I wouldn't mind if I was left behind, but it's up to you," he shrugged his shoulders. "I cannot promise I will be able to hold him for more than a couple of seconds, so you and Crazy will have to make this as fast as possible."

"Shulk, are you sure you don't want to come with us back to Mewtwo's place?" Robin asked, hoping he would change his mind.

"Robin, it's not like I will be of any use once you get back to Mewtwo's apartment. The best I could do was give emotional support," Shulk scratched the back of his neck. "Besides… I really don't want to see Mewtwo again. I don't like having him involved in this plan, to tell you the truth."

"Yeah, what was that all about? It's not like you to be so wary of others like this."

"I don't trust mind readers," he simply said. "I've had awful experiences with them in the past."

"I see..."

"During my journey through the Bionis, I've encountered creatures that could read minds and were born solely to to bring death and destruction to every living being in my world. They were called Telethia and let's just say they were one of the most hideous and violent creatures I have ever seen."

"So… Mewtwo is like a Telethia to you?"

"Kinda, sorta, not really. But being near him doesn't makes me feel at ease at all. I'd rather stay at the hotel and face whatever punishment Master Hand will give me if he finds me soon, than have to deal with that... _Thing_... Again."

Robin was glad Shulk was so willing to help her in getting Master Hand distracted, but she still felt rather guilty for having him stay behind and have to hide in some other Smasher's room in the meantime. The only consolation she got was that it was that she would probably have to go through the same punishment once the hand also caught her, so it wasn't like it was going to be unfair for either of them.

They both met with Crazy Hand near the elevators on the ground floor, who seemed a little too excited with everything that was about to happen. Peach was also there, but only to wish them good luck and remind Crazy of what she had asked him for, before taking her leave and leaving everything else up to them. The younger hand guided them up to the last floor, where Master Hand's office was located.

"Wait, why are we at his office?" Robin asked.

"Oh, girl Robin, you don't think that his office if the only thing in this floor, do you? It would be a total waste of space."

"You mean his lab has been near us this entire time?" Shulk asked.

"Not the entire time. Bro's original lab used to be underground a few years ago, but he decided to build another one here because he had space. You guys, the more recent Smashers, were all born up here! Melee, Brawl and full-time veterans were born underground."

"Well then, where is the entrance?" Robin asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

She looked around her, searching for anything that could indicate an entrance, but she found nothing. There was no other visible door on that spacious and empty office that could serve as the entrance to the laboratory. But maybe that was why Crazy referred to it as a secret lab to begin with. Crazy Hand floated towards the largest bookshelf in that office, one made entirely of metal, and pressed a small button (small for him, but for an average adult Smasher, that thing could be big as their hand) that was on its top.

Robin and Shulk jumped a little in surprise as the bookshelf slowly started to slide to the side, eventually showing the large metal door that was behind it.

"Crazy, I don't think I know how to thank you enough for everything you're doing," Robin said in awe.

"Anything to not see you cry."

"I thought you wanted to see me cry?"

"Oh, yeah," he mused for a while, fingers twitching excitedly. "I did want it, didn't I? Ah, that doesn't matter now. Let's go."

He turned the big doorknob (so big, in fact, the it probably required at least two Smashers to turn it) and slowly opened the door.

Shulk held his breath as they were greeted with the lab's sight. It looked very much like the one he had in his vision a few days ago, which only made him even more nervous. Apparently, Robin thought the same thing, because she was breathing heavily and her knuckles practically turning white from his how tightly she closed her hands into fists.

The laboratory certainly was bigger than what he assumed it was from his vision, though it wasn't a lot bigger. The walls were all white and the whole place was incredibly well-lit, giving a very sterile air to the lab. Robin could see some strange-looking pods on the wall, but had no idea what they were for. She could see that one of them was occupied by… Something, someone, she couldn't make out what it was due to the figure looking really blurry through the foggy glass. There were two tables at the other side of the room with various glasses with chemicals and other things she had absolutely no knowledge in, as well as a large desk with a big computer on it.

But what really caught her attention was the simple, rectangular metal table in the middle of the room and the person that currently laid on it, as well as the enormous hand that floated above him, tinkering with a strange, white, orb-like machine that hung on the ceiling.

"Rob..." Robin whispered as she saw her unconscious lover on the metal table a few feet away from her.

"Broooo, I brought guests!" Crazy Hand happily exclaimed, bringing his brother's attention down to the newcomers.

"What?!"

Master Hand floated downwards, clearly furious at the sight of Robin and Shulk there. He was just a few minutes away from perfecting Rob's new soul and the last thing he needed was to see Robin, of all Smashers, standing there with a face of sorrow.

"Crazy Hand, what is the meaning of this?!" he asked, his voice bursting with anger. "Why did you bring the female Robin and Shulk here?!"

"Because they are his friends," Crazy replied innocently. "They should be here, no?"

"Master Hand, Crazy told me everything," Robin said, her voice and body shaking slightly. "Please, don't do this. Please, please, please let him live! There must be another way!"

"Robin," he said, softening just for a moment as he saw small tears forming in the corner of her eyes. "I need you to understand I am also not very fond of this solution, but it is the best one I could come up with."

"No, no, don't do it..."

"Master Hand, please reconsider," Shulk said.

"It will be for the best for you. He won't suffer anymore from headaches and from Grima trying to take over him. You won't be in any more danger," he explained. "I wish I could retain his memories of his life here, but it won't be possible. It's a small price he has to pay if he wants to get better."

"...Can I at least say goodbye to him?" she asked, wiping the newly formed tears away.

Master Hand looked at his brother, who seemed to shrug her request off. "...Of course, you may. I can see you are very close to him," he said, though there was something in the tone of that sentence that made Robin shiver. "One last goodbye and that's it, understood?"

She took a deep breath and walked towards the table, being followed closely by Crazy Hand, while Shulk walked just a few steps behind. Her heart seemed to beat faster the more she got closer to him, the palm of her hands sweating like crazy. One missed step, and it was over.

"By the way, Robin," Master Hand said as he followed the group. "I was thinking about giving you separate rooms once this is all over. Maybe it is about time you each got your own space. It was foolish of me to think that not giving each of you your own space didn't matter."

Robin simply let out a hum in acknowledgment and kneed beside Rob.

"Hey, Rob," she whispered to the unconscious man, leaning over him just enough so her lips were inches away from his ear. "Sorry we took so long. Don't worry, we're getting you out of here."

Master Hand floated close behind her, wondering what the female tactician was whispering. That didn't last long, however, because no more than three seconds later Robin threw herself at her counterpart and firmly enveloped him in her arms.

"Shulk, now!"

"Jump!"

It happened everything so fast, Master Hand had barely time to react. Shulk jumped in the air and swung the Monado at their creator, taking him by surprise and making him retreat a bit, not from the impact from the ethereal blade in itself, but more from the surprise that one of his Smashers dared to attack him outside of Final Destination. It hurt, yes, but the Monado could not do much damage to him and no cut actually appeared on his body.

Taking advantage of Master Hand's brief daze, Crazy Hand quickly grabbed both Robins and floated away from his older brother and towards Shulk.

"Crazy, what are you-"

"Sorry, bro!"

"Oh, no, you won't!"

Master Hand flew towards the younger brother, ready to hit him and get Rob back, but was intercepted by Shulk, who hit him with a swift air slash and made him flinch. The hand let out a frustrated groan and pushed him out of the way, slamming Shulk against the wall.

"Just go without me!" the Homs shouted.

"Okay!" Crazy screeched.

"Wait, Shulk-"

And in less than a second, Crazy Hand vanished, taking both tacticians with him. Master Hand was left there, completely dumbstruck at the events that had just transpired in front of him, trying to process them all in his mind.

There was a _ping_ sound from above, which made Master Hand look up and find a bright, glowing orb floating out from the machine and being held by its antennas. He then looked at the empty table bellow him, a white, hot rage growing inside of him the more he stared at where the male Robin was supposed to be.

A scream threatened to escape from him, but Master Hand regained his composure before he could lose it. Once he found the female Robin, he would make sure her punishment would be severe.

Meanwhile…

"Shulk."

Shulk seemed to freeze at the cold voice the hand had. Master Hand seemed a lot less frightening in the scenario he had been imagining before. He started to tremble as he floated closer to him, realizing that if Master Hand decided to kill him right now, nobody would hear him scream.

* * *

Lucina had to admit that Mewtwo wasn't nearly as bad as she thought initially. Sure, he wasn't someone she would invite to a party… Or to anything else, for that matter, but if she found herself stuck in an elevator with him, she would be able to strike a decent conversation with him just fine. At least he was polite and offered her some tea while she was there.

"So you have been thinking about returning to the Smash Bros tournament?" she asked, not really sure if she should look forward to that or not.

"_I have been practicing on how to contain my powers so I won't mess with my opponent's mind too badly,_" Mewtwo said. "_I am positively sure that Master Hand will accept me back._"

"So what Peach had said about you was true."

"_To an extend, though she likes to exaggerate her facts a lot, especially when it concerns to people she __doesn't like__. I did read my opponents' minds and tried to use that to my advantage, but that was because I simply couldn't shut their thoughts out._"

"You couldn't?"

"_No, and let me tell you, it was a nightmare. There were days when I simply wanted nothing but disappear so I wouldn't have to listen to everyone's inner voices talking all at once. When in battle, I simply tried to make the best out of __a__ situation I was not very fond of._"

"That must have been rough," Lucina said, growing just a little bit more of sympathy for him. "So from what I can understand, you were expelled because of your powers."

"_No, I asked to leave,_" Mewtwo shrugged it off. "_I wanted to __practice__ my psychic powers better, __alone__. Even though my mind reading was unfair to my opponents in theory, there were moments when I just wanted peace and quiet, but all this __mental__ noise kept pestering me. I couldn't even concentrate on my own thought__s__ sometimes."_

There was a knock on the window that made the two Smashers stop talking immediately. Lucina got up from the small green couch and went to take a look at the window, only to find Crazy Hand floating outside, carrying both Robins on the palm of his body. Mewtwo opened the window, shivering slightly at the cold breeze that started to invade his apartment, and gave Lucina way so she could help them get inside.

"I didn't expect that you would get through the window," Lucina commented as she helped Robin get Rob inside first.

"I don't think security would think it would be okay to let some strange woman with an unconscious man into the building," Robin said.

"I liked this idea better," Crazy said, trying his best to stand still and not twitch his fingers.

"What took you so long?"

"We would have arrived earlier, but SOMEONE ended up getting the wrong address!"

"Yeah, you," the hand said, shamelessly trying to shift the blame to the tactician. "If you spoke more clearly, we wouldn't have appeared inside the mall."

"How do you even get a residential neighborhood confused with a mall?!"

"They both have a lot of people."

"And then you made us appear in an abandoned zoo park!"

"Stop judging meeeee!"

"Um... Where is Shulk, by the way?"

"He decided to stay and distract Master Hand…" Robin sighed. "I really hope he's alright."

"_Robin, just get inside so we can __get__ this over with,_" Mewtwo said in irritation, preferring to ignore the fact that Shulk would rather face a very angry Master Hand than be around him.

Lucina extended her hand to Robin and helped her get inside by acting as a support. Mewtwo wasn't all that pleased with how her boots were dirtying the couch as she stepped inside the apartment, but the sooner they got that over, the sooner he would find peace.

* * *

**I based Mewtwo's personality on the one from the movie though I'm pretty sure you guys have noticed that. I've always seen him as arrogant and a loner, but also acting kind every once in a full moon. **

LegitElizabethWWEFan: **Well, after this chapter, what do you expect what will happen to Rob? ****I'm really happy you enjoyed Lucina's character! I sure had fun writing about her, so it's great to hear that! ****I can't buy both, my wallet won't allow it! Games are super expensive for me… I really will only buy one version because I wouldn't feel comfortable spending so much money on two different versions of the same game.**

NitroTheKidd88: **What it matters is that you got and that you're not mad. ****What about now? Does the sound of the feelstorm sound close? ****Well, if you wanna think that would count as the most painful memory, then sure. I left it vague because I couldn't figure it out, I'm really sorry. ****Mewtwo's characterization here isn't anything new or groundbreaking, but that's how I see him and how I feel like he would really act. ****Well, your train of thought isn't that far off from what actually happened in the library. ****You really think I write Crazy Hand differently? I don't know, I just can't imagine him being hyper on sugar, I just like to imagine that the twitching of his fingers is kind of something he can't control and that he can be a big clutz.**

Wotahbotah3k: **Thanks! Not wanting to spoil anything, but yeah, I think now it's pretty obvious somethign's definitely going to happen in his brain. ****I can't take both! My heart says yes, but my wallet and my consciousness say no.**

PozzyP: **But aren't records being sold even to this day? Crazy is super into the times! ****I never confused Marth with a girl, believe it or not. I never understood the tiara, but he had a clear male voice to me. And for some reason, ****I always got confused because I thought him and Roy would look cute together, but I was just a****n ignorant****ten year old**** back the****n****, so I guess I used to ship ****Marth/Roy**** without knowing it was possible. It was complicated. ****I'm really not fond of the self parody/meme characterization ****people like to give Peach****, mostly because it's just too easy. I don't find it funny because it's mostly people telling the same joke over and over again. And gossip/cake maker" is also too boring, so there. ****Both Birthright and Conquest have same-sex marriage, but Birthright has same-sex marriage between the female avatar and Shara (Tharja 2), while Conquest has the same-sex marriage between the male avatar and Zero.**

Gamerfan64: **Oh, I'm glad you're liking. That's funny, a lot of you really are liking Crazy Hand a lot, despite him appearing very few times.**

SmashBrosFan96: **I mostly skipped the videos that were only sidequests, so I guess it all comes down to how you watch his LPs. ****Peach just didn't like how Mewtwo used to mess with his opponents with his mind reading powers. She's no different than Shulk when it comes to disliking mind readers, ****only she copes with her distaste a little better. ****I think it's because the Mewtwo hype is finally over and we can go back to beating up Captain Falcons once again. The same goes to the Roys and Ryus of FG. ****I really like Medusa's design and personality, but eh, I can't get into her character that much.**

**O****h, that's too bad. I'm not that excited for this crossover, surprisingly enough. I could barely recognize Chrom, or any other character that wasn't Tiki there, and that sure didn't please me a lot.**

TinyMouse: **In two days?! I'm so happy to hear that you're enjoying it so much! I swear I can't say this enough when you guys tell me how much you're liking this story! ****I know right? Conquest looks so much more interesting and betraying your step siblings that you grew up with for your entire life seems pretty harsh. ****But I really don't like that it will be played like more classical Fire Emblem titles…**

ShadowFenix98: **I really don't know what I'm doing right with Crazy Hand, but I'm glad you guys enjoy reading about him. ****Conquest just seems so much better, but Birthright has Awakening privileges, so yeah. It's hard. At least you have made up your mind.**

Makokam: **Oh, I didn't make those mistakes out of distraction, I really just made them because I thought I was writing them right. And that makes me really sad. ****Sometimes I get prepositions confused. Like Peach said in the beginning of the chapter, she suggested Mewtwo because she really didn't know anyone else. Even if Ness was able to get Robin inside Rob's mind, nobody there ****thought about that possibility****. Also, Magicant doesn't really count, because the only one who went to Magicant in the game was Ness. ****Meanwhile,**** Paula, Jeff and Poo just watched him sleep and probably were wondering if he was dead. ****I don't know if it ****i****s confirmed that Ness can read minds, but I imagine ****that if that was the case,**** he wouldn't tell a single soul about this and would keep his powers to himself, so nobody ****would**** suspect a thing.**

**I****t's okay. Like I said, his story was pretty spoiler heavy, so I don't blame you for skipping it if you still plan on playing Xenoblade Chronicles. ****Oh, now I understand what you meant. Yeah, the soul here is implied to be connected to his mind and heart and all of that, so his memories are strongly linked to his soul. ****Hey, Crazy was already invading her per****s****onal space, ****she**** might as well use it to her advantage. ****I can imagine Robin trying to sleep, but the events of what happened a few hours earlier just wouldn't leave her head and she would spend the night awake ****in her bed****, unable to get some peace. ****At best she would get a one hour rest before she woke up again. ****From what I can gather, B****ir****thright will have a more Awakening gameplay (easy level grinding and easy way to get money), while Conquest will play more like other Fire Emblem games.**

**Y****es! Someone who supports Peachcina! This ship needs to set sail soon.**

Bighat12: **Wow, did you send this review just in time. I was going to upload this chapter last Wednesday. ****I'm really sorry for your computer and iPad, I really am. Well, Lucina did call herself Marth at one point, but right in the beginning people thought she was a boy. So she was a boy/girl Marth? ****Ahhh, these people who can buy Amiibo freely… I envy you. And your poor wallet. ****What? Wouldn't you deliver terrible news at the local library? Where else would you do it? I ****guess we all have different views on this. Lucina still thinks that him not knowing what will happen to him is for the worst, but at least we can all agree ****that this "Reform" is beyond wrong. ****Paper Peach for Smash (no, please don't, give us another representative that isn't from Mario)!**

**Oh, no! You're not going to get out of this question easily. At least give me a top three list of your favorite characters ****in this story****! ****Maybe there will be a deluxe bundle edition. Who knows? Everything is possible. ****Yup, this quote is totally right. We are all individuals. All of us.**

**O****kay, so I have only question again:**

**-****Who is the ultimate Smash Bros waifu ****or ****husbando ****to you****?**

**I****'m not even going to bother answering this one, because I think I made my opinion pretty clear.**


	26. Dive to the mind

**I want to thank Makokam for helping me out with this chapter and pointing out some inconsistencies! You really, really helped me out with the ideas for this chapter.**

**And I want to thank everyone that is sticking with me until now! I love every review you guys send, and I'm grateful for every criticism and praise. Really, thanks a lot!**

* * *

"Alright, how is this going to work?" Robin asked once they'd made sure Rob was laid comfortably on the couch.

"_What is there to explain?_" Mewtwo asked as he floated a few centimeters from the ground, legs and arms crossed. "_My mind shall serve as __a __sort of bridge so you can reach the male Robin's thoughts while you both sleep._"

"But is there anything else I need to do? As in, is there any sort of ritual, or…?"

"_No, __I will simply put you to sleep__. __Just __close your eyes__ and let me take care of the rest._"

"Was this supposed-"

"_Pun not intended._"

"Just to make sure, it really is not possible to have two people inside his mind, am I correct?" Lucina asked.

"_I barely know how long I will be able to maintain only one of your minds connected to his. Two would be overload. By the way, wh__ich__ of you __is __going to __enter his mind?_"

Robin and Lucina looked at each other. Now that was a good question.

"Well, Lucina has known him for longer, but..."

"You want to go, don't you?"

"…Yeah, I do."

"To tell you the truth, I think you would be better suited anyway," she gave a bitter smile. "I may have known him longer, but your connection to him is a lot stronger than mine."

"Are you sure?"

"You share the same past and the same soul. Who better to get connected to him than you?"

"_That seems to be alright,_" Mewtwo said, wanting the process to speed up. "_Robin, lay down whe__r__ever you feel more comfortable __as long as it is close to him__ and close your eyes._"

"Alright..."

She laid down on the carpet, right by Rob's side. Robin closed her eyes and was ready to go to sleep, when she felt a light touch on her shoulder. "_Robin,_" she heard Mewtwo call her. "_There is something I need to tell you._"

"What is it?"

"_I know that you want to destroy Grima and save him from all his problems. However you are going to be in__side__ his mind. You will have no power over there. __N__o magic or weapons__, understood? If you are to find this Grima demon, I urge you to avoid any confrontation as much as possible, __or else, he m__ay__ overpower you__._"

Robin simply nodded and closed her eyes. Considering just how tired she was from last night, it didn't take much effort from Mewtwo to make her sleep.

"Mewtwo, what can I do to help?" Lucina asked as Mewtwo prepared himself.

"_Keep a close eye on them,_" Mewtwo shrugged his shoulders. "_Or if you are hungry, there is some steak __in__ the fridge __that you can eat__. I usually have __some for Ness. He usually comes to visit me every once in a while._"

"I was thinking about maybe doing something more productive?"

"_I was serious about keeping a close eye on __both Robins. __If you notice anything suspicious happening to them, you need to wake the female Robin immediately. Just because she is sleeping, that doesn't mean she w__on't__ be in any less danger. __If Robin cannot go on, I will need you ready to take her place._"

"I understand..." she mumbled, taking another look at Robin. "I will keep a close eye on them, then."

"_Good._"

* * *

For a moment, everything around her was a blurry mess of shapes and color. It was as if she had suddenly been caught in a violent whirlwind without means of escaping. But that didn't last long, at least not long enough for her to ponder if she could escape and panic once she realized she couldn't. Robin's vision slowly started to return to normal and the dizziness and buzzing sound in her head began to fade away. She suddenly found herself standing in her and Rob's hotel room.

"What the…?"

She went to the window and saw it was pitch black outside, save for the bright, silvery moon. Or at least she thought it was the moon in the sky. It was so dark outside that she honestly didn't know where the sky ended and the horizon begun.

Robin didn't have time to ponder any of that. With uncertain steps, she walked towards the door and, after taking a deep breath (or two), opened the door. She poked her head out, not really sure of what to expect. At the other side there was nothing but a huge void. There was not a beginning, nor an ending, just an endless see of darkness. For a moment she hesitated to step outside, fearing she would fall and never return, but something inside her told it was perfectly okay to leave.

The appearance of a circle of colorful doors that stood not too far away from her also helped.

"Alright..." she whispered, trying to stay calm.

Robin gave the first step. A sigh of relief escaped from her as she felt like she was standing in solid ground. She gave another one, and the ground was still there. Little by little, she made her way to the circle of colorful doors, looking back every once in a while just to make sure that the door to the hotel room was still there.

Could Rob be behind one of those? There was a total of eight doors, each with a different pattern. Most of them seemed to resemble covers of the tomes they used both in Smash and back at their original world, with the exception of two doors, one with a black cross and colorful wood, which Robin assumed it represented the symbol of the Super Smash Bros tournament, and another one that was entirely white with two columns of three diagonal slits.

If Rob was behind one of them, then which door was the right one? The Smash door was the one that she wanted to try out first, but he could also be behind the white door (since it was unlike any of the others) or he could even be behind the one that resembled a Nosferatu tome cover. None of those doors screamed "Grima", so choosing was hard.

Where should she go first?

_Get out._

"Rob?!" Robin called, frantically looking around her. "Where are you?"

_Get out, get out! Robin, please save yourself and leave!_

"Where are you?" she repeated. "I'm not leaving until I find you."

Robin let out a scream as the slits on the white door became three pair of hostile red eyes. She could feel a threatening shadow looming behind her, only to realize that there was nothing there once she turned around. More and more eyes began to appear in the sky, all watching Robin carefully, as if the smallest movement could trigger a bad reaction from them.

"Rob, I'm coming for you. Please, please be safe..."

She opened the door and entered. Robin let out a gasp of surprise as she found herself at the garden of Ylisstol's castle. The grass was brown and the flowers were either decaying or dead, but Robin recognized the place regardless. She turned around and, true enough, she saw the huge castle standing right in front of her.

The tactician wasted no time and made her way inside the castle. Robin had absolutely no idea where to go, she just went with what seemed more logical to her. She would visit the rooms and places that were more familiar to him (using her own familiarity with them as a reference point) and search through them. Most rooms weren't even rooms, they were mostly bits of important memories of events from his past.

His first encounter with Chrom, his meeting with the Shepherds, the moment Lucina revealed her true identity, the discovery of who was his father and who he really was, what the Grimleal expected him to become…

Chrom and him…

Robin slammed the door shut immediately, cheeks burning with embarrassment. Alright, she didn't need to open that one door. That memory was way too personal, even for her, who was already pretty intimate with him.

And to think Lucina was accusing HER.

"..."

Robin opened the door again and took a sneak peak, before closing it again and walking away for good.

She soon reached the dead end of the corridor, with only one door remaining.

"Rob?" she tried calling him, only to be met with silence.

If he wasn't there, she would be forced to run to the other wing of the castle. The tactician took a deep breath and opened the door, apprehension being taken over by confusion and surprise as she saw the interior of an elevator at the other side. The interior looked just liked the ones from the hotel, not that that served as any consolation to her.

"I'm not abandoning you," she said and stepped inside. "Tell me where you are."

There were no floor buttons, just one that Robin assumed served to close the doors. So she pressed the button and the doors did just that. With a loud rumble, the elevator began to go down at a fast speed.

"Rob, I'm serious," Robin said as she waited. "I want to help you, I really do. But I need you to tell me where you are."

The elevator came to a halt, the loud ping sound bringing Robin's attention back to where she was for a moment. The doors opened and revealed a long corridor ahead of her, one very similar to the ones from the Smash hotel.

And, of course, more doors.

Robin wanted to strangle herself, this would take forever!

"Ugh, better not," she murmured, bringing a hand close to her throat. "Rob, are you in one of these rooms?"

She was again met with more silence.

Robin walked towards one of the doors and tried to open it, but found it was locked. She tried opening another one, but that too was locked. One by one she tried to open them, but none of them would bulge even the slightest. Unlike the castle's extensive and empty halls, the corridors here felt claustrophobic, not helped by the shadow figures that walked back and forth, passing by her as if she wasn't there. Some were twice her size, others couldn't be higher than her knee, but in the end, Robin couldn't make out whose shadows were those, as they all looked the same aside from size.

The corridor ended up splitting in two directions, left and right. Robin had absolutely no clue where to go, and Rob was not making her job any easier by not answering her.

_No, no, no! He'll get her like this… What is she even doing here? She's in danger and it's all my fault…_

"It's not your fault!" Robin exclaimed to the roof, not really sure where she should look.

_She needs to leave… But how? Oh, gods, if she continues like this, he will get her for sure..._

Was he even listening to her at that point? That seemed more like the blabbering of a mad person than anything else. Nevertheless, she would press onward. Robin decided to take the right side after she realized there was no way she would be able to talk some sense into Rob. She had no idea if she was going in the correct direction, but at that point she had nothing to back her up except for her instincts.

However as soon as she began to walk, she felt two strong hands grabbing her arms and puling her away. Robin was about to shout, but one of the hands quickly covered her mouth, while the other turned her around, revealing that the one who forcefully took her out of her way was none other than Rob himself.

"Shhh, I heard him too," he whispered, eyes showing nothing but fear. "Please, Robin, don't go there! It's a trap!"

Robin's eyes widened in surprise and hugged him tightly, forgetting for a brief moment the whole reason as to why she was there. Rob was okay! He was there, alive and well! She tightened her hug the more seconds passed, as if she was afraid that once she let him go, he would disappear again and never come back.

"Rob, you're okay," she said, cupping his face with her hands. "You're okay!"

"Not if you stay here," he took her hands into his own. "Robin, you need to leave before Grima finds you!"

"Rob, Master Hand will erase your entire soul because Grima took control of your body," she informed him, clutching on his coat's sleeve. "You can't stay like this! You need to fight back!"

"He will… Erase me?" he asked, rather surprised.

"You need to fight back Grima and regain control! You need to convince Master Hand that you can be saved..."

"I promise I will. Robin, I don't want to disappear," he grabbed her coat's sleeve. "But you need to get out of here. It's too dangerous and I would never forgive myself if something were to happen to you."

He started to pull her to the opposite way, to the left corridor, all while ignoring Robin's protests. She tried to pull her sleeve away from him, tried to convince him that she could help, only for him to shake his head in denial and continue to drag her away.

There was a sense of unease that kept growing inside of her as the seconds passed, one all too familiar to her. Why would Rob want her out of his mind, yet drag her to a different place from where she came from? She was pretty sure that corridor did not lead to an exit, or whatever served as an exit to one's mind. For someone who had just lost control of his mind, he seemed to be doing pretty fine… Maybe just a little too much.

Robin managed to get away from his grip after much effort. She would not make this mistake twice! As he turned around and shouted at her to wait, Robin had already begun running away from him.

"What do you think you're doing?" he asked, not with a growl or a snarl, but with a very mocking tone. "Robin, it's not safe over there. Let me protect you."

Oh, lay the cockiness off already, she angrily thought as she continued to run.

"I said come here," he made a dash towards her and managed to tackle Robin to the ground in less than five seconds. A sickeningly amused grin appeared on his lips as he continued to watch her struggle beneath him. "Don't go off running away like this. Who knows what kind of dangers you might find out there?"

"I think I will be fine without you," she grunted, struggling as best as she could to get him away from her.

Rob – no, Grima – just pinned her wrists down and continued to watch her trying to break free, enjoying every moment of watching her despair. Mewtwo's words came back into her mind:

"_If you are to find this Grima demon, I urge you to avoid any confrontation as much as possible, or else, he __may__ overpower you."_

Robin's breathing suddenly became more frantic the more she realized just how powerless she was. She had no plans, no strategy, nothing that she could use in her favor. She couldn't even get Grima away from her. How… How did she let herself get into this position? Mewtwo had warned her, yet she still couldn't even run away from him when the time came.

"W-Why are you doing this…?" she whimpered, trying her best to not let her voice crack in fear. "You obviously don't have the same power as the original Grima… So why would you even bother..."

"Because living as a shadow in the back of someone's mind can be quite a boring existence after a while. This has nothing to do with me trying to destroy humanity, I just want to get out of this prison that you call his mind," Grima let out a wicked grin. "Besides, wasn't this pathetic boy born to serve me anyway? I'm just taking back what was always rightfully mine."

"He doesn't belong to you and never will!"

"And yet he still bows down to me like he does."

"What did you do to him?" Robin hissed.

"I just put him in his place," Grima said, his face getting closer to hers. "Just like I'm about to do to you."

If Robin wasn't already shaking in fear before, now she was outright panicking. She tried once again to get rid of his grip, but his hand wouldn't even lift a little, no matter how much she tried to lift her arms.

"You are a real eyesore, you know that? Just what was that foolish hand thinking when he decided to create you?" he tightened his grip on her wrists, almost digging his nails on her skin. "An empty shell of a vessel, unworthy anymore to become a god. Despite his claims of you two being equal, you couldn't be more inferior than this current vessel."

"A-And yet I'm still here," Robin answered. "So I must be doing something right if he hasn't kicked me out yet."

"Let's see if you're still going to keep that attitude once I'm done with you," the fell dragon hissed, siting just above her navel.

And with that said, Grima placed one of his hands on Robin's eyes, casting an unknown spell on her that immediately blinded her. Robin gasped at her sudden loss of vision, cold sweat trickling down her forehead as she could feel his lips brushing on her ear.

"I'm going to make sure you don't wake up ever again," he whispered as a terrifying grin formed on his lips.

* * *

Lucina let out a sigh. And then another one not a few seconds later. Being the only person awake in that tiny apartment could be quite boring. She really didn't have much to do aside from watching both Robins sleep. She wasn't hungry at all and none of the Pokemon's books seemed to interest her in the slightest, as they all were non-fiction, neuroscience books. But he did have a small radio that she gladly used to listen to soothing, classical music at minimal volume.

She wasn't more bored because she also spent great part of the time just feeling awkward for being there, watching both her best friend and crush sleep. She had absolutely no idea what she could consider suspicious behavior from them, now that she stopped to think about it. The other Robin was sleeping very peacefully, not even a snore escaping from her. And while that seemed fine and all, she also had to remember that the tactician was not someone who slept this peacefully. She remembered when Robin used to tell her how his roommate would twist and turn in her bed, and how worried he got sometimes when she started to moan just a little too loud.

Was it normal for her to be this peaceful? Should she wake her up just to make sure she was doing alright?

Maybe not. If Robin was having problems, she would probably show a reaction, right?

Gods, was she bored!

Lucina gingerly combed Rob's hair before sitting on the floor, close to Robin. She looked so peaceful. The princess absentmindedly brushed her bangs out from her eyes so she could get a good look on her face. Lucina quickly glanced at both Rob and Mewtwo before turning her attention to Robin again. She caressed her cheek with the back of her hand, being as careful as possible to not wake her up. Though to be fair, Robin seemed so tired, that not even the loudest sound in the world could possibly wake her up.

Without thinking twice, Lucina laid down beside her, one elbow serving as support for her weight, while her other hand still caressed her cheek. Her face start to get just a little to close to the tactician's, lips just inches from…

_Bzzz! Bzzz! Bzzz!_

Lucina snapped out of her trance right as she ended up kissing Robin's cheek. What was she even thinking? That wasn't the time or place for that. Worse, she would just end up betraying her best friend like this! No, no, no, this was so wrong! Lucina just wanted to keep as distant as possible from her.

"Ugh," Lucina groaned and got up, moving over to the couch where the buzzing sound of her phone came. She never really liked the device's ring tone, so she usually left it on silent mode.

"_Lucina?_"

"Hello, Peach," the princess said, trying her best to hide her embarrassment from a few seconds before.

"_I just called to see if everything is doing okay there. Is Mewtwo helping you fine?_"

"He is… So far everything seems to be doing fine."

"_Seems?_"

"I don't know. The other Robin went to sleep and Mewtwo said he would transfer her mind to Robin," she scratched her head. "I… Think that is how it works. He was pretty vague on what exactly he was doing."

"_That sounds just like him to do something like this._"

"As long as both wake up safe, I don't care about what the procedure was," she hugged her legs with her free arm as tightly as possible. "But I feel so useless, not being able to do anything besides watch them sleep. I actually feel like a creep. But what else should I do? Just sit and cry?"

"_That__ usually works __out__ for me just fine__._"

"I'm being serious, Peach!"

"_Luci, what I want to say is, even if it isn't the most exciting job in the world, you are already helping enough by just being there,_" Peach said, trying her best to cheer her up. "_Don't you think it is better for them to have you watching their back, than not having anyone to serve as a backup __at all__?_"

"I suppose you are right..."

"_Of course I am. And if you need someone to talk to while you wait, you know I'm all ears!_"

"Thank you, Peach," Lucina let out a smile. "Truly."

"_Anytime, __love__._"

Lucina looked again at Robin, who was still sleeping soundly.

She honestly couldn't shake off the feeling that something was terribly wrong.

"FEMALE ROBIN!" boomed an all familiar voice outside of the apartment, making Lucina jump from where she sat. "I know you are in there! Get out from where you are hiding!"

Oh, no! Oh, no, not him! Lucina checked on both Robins and Mewtwo, fearing that their master's voice would wake them up. To her relief, that didn't seem to disturb them, save for maybe Mewtwo, who appeared to be frowning a bit.

Lucina quickly went to the window, hoping she could silence him before he could disturb the Pokemon even more.

"Lucina?" Master Hand asked as he saw her head emerging from the window. "Don't tell me you are also a part of this!"

"Shhh, Master Hand, could you please speak more softly? You are going to disturb Mewtwo," she pleaded, trying her best not to shout. Given that they were on on the third floor, it wasn't difficult for Master Hand to hear her.

"What nonsense are you talking about?!"

"I… Could you please lower me down so we can talk? We are in the middle of a delicate process here..."

"..."

"I promise I will explain everything."

Had it been either Robin or Shulk, Master Hand would have already lost his patience. But Lucina usually was a good Smasher. He couldn't remember her ever causing any sort of trouble or openly defying him, so he ended up softening just a little, just enough for him to comply and help her get to the ground floor outside of the building.

"You have about a minute to explain to me what is happening here," Master Hand said sternly.

* * *

**To be fair, just about any Smasher that isn't Robin or Shulk would make Master Hand soften up at the moment. About the circle of doors thing at the beginning of Robin's fantastical journey through Rob's mind, I will love forever the person that knows from where that reference came from. Also, I'm pretty sure Lucina just ended up kissing Robin's cheek because she panicked when she heard the buzzing sound from her phone. Peach has some amazing timing.**

SmashBrosFan96: **Yeah, it was pretty easy. Maybe that is why Master Hand is so furious. As for Mewtwo, he sure is doing a lot for someone who didn't want any part in this crazy plan to begin with. You knew Sheik was a girl since the beginning? Wow, I'm really surprised! But maybe that's because I used to think Sheik was a really beautiful man when I was little (I've never played Ocarina of Time when I was a child, so I didn't know anything about the character). Hyrule Warriors is a fun game, too bad I'm spending most of the time playing Splatoon at the moment. I hope you managed to get all those amiibos! I don't have Mario Maker and I don't plan on buying it any time soon, so I won't be using my amiibos on that game.**

Daze: **Thank you so much! You don't need to feel nervous, I really like when someone goes out of their way to comment on my stories, so there's no way I wouldn't like getting a review from you. I'm really glad you like the clone idea, because it really was just me trying to explain why the characters in Smash sometimes act a little differently from their original game counterparts. ****They maintain their memories, but the longer they live in this world and go through some different experiences, they start developing a slightly different personality, but not enough to become a totally different person. ****And it was also my way of making the Robins' relationship less incest-ish (or I could have made it worse, considering every Smasher came from the same hand, so I guess the Bros part in Super Smash Bros can be taken literally). Yeah, I'm not a big fan of heavy OOC either. It's kind of a bummer when you search for fanfic of a character you love and the only thing they have in common if the name and appearance. ****I don't think Master Hand would go that far as to erase Shulk, especially because he wasn't even that happy with what he was doing to Rob. But yeah, Shulk is still in for some punishment. Right after he decides what he is going to do to Robin. ****I don't know. Can he be saved?**

**N****ow I'm really curious about your first choice. **

Makokam: **I don't know. I'm pretty sure I've heard "Old habits are hard to die" somewhere. Or I'm probably just imagining things, I was sure that was how it was said. ****Inglorious Basterds is a great movie. And you're right about Master Hand not wanting to kill him. He can be as angry as he could get, but he would never harm Shulk like that. ****Everything about Mewtwo could trigger some painful memories for him, and considering how attached he is to his past and memories, that could make Shulk hate Mewtwo a lot more than he already does. I've never played Samus enough to know if she got nerfed or not. I just can't play as either Samus or ZSS well, that's sad. **

PozzyP: **Yeah, your Shulk has "purge art" privileges, mine just has to suffer with mind-reading jerks without being able to do anything. No wonder he's bitter. ****For the moment, we won't know what Master Hand decided to do to him. He's more worried about getting Rob back and punishing Robin than anything. But I have already said in my other author notes who my waifu is. Palutena is the ultimate waifu for me, hands down. Peach is a character that I hold dear to my heart, she was one of my favorite characters when I was a child ****(I was a big fan of really girly, delicate princesses back then)****, but I never thought of her as a "waifu".**

NitroThe Kid88: **Don't worry, Shulk is not going to die. You guys really do expect the worse for these characters, don't you? ****I'm so glad you caught that reference! Yes, it was supposed to be the zoo from the Subspace Emissary, I can't believe you were the only one who noticed it! Mewtwo isn't really all that different from other interpretations of him, but that's really because that's also how I see him. ****I thought Marth was a man since from the start, really. But I also thought Sheik was a man, and that didn't turn out well when I discovered she was Zelda's alter ego. I actually have a history of thinking some female characters were male, but almost never the opposite. ****You have wonderful choices for husbandos and waifus, I give you a 10/10. ****It's not really a big deal. In the end, they are all just a bunch of video game crushes. Oh, and my ultimate husbando would be either Robin or Roy. Dem Fire Emblems.**

Wotahbotah3k: **Master Hand is just trying to do what he thinks it's best. Too bad (good) that nobody agrees with him. You really think I'm being mean to him? I'm glad we agree that Palutena is the best waifu.**

**Now for the question:**

**-****If you could have a superpower of any kind, what would it be? Yeah, this one is pretty basic, but it's always a fun question.**


	27. Blind reunion

**I'm not going to anymore chapter questions. They were supposed to be just a fun little thing that you guys could choose to include in the reviews, but I'm ****running out of ideas****. ****Also, I'm getting a little bummed at the people who review just to answer the question and nothing else. ****Besides we're already reaching the end of the story anyway. So yeah, no more questions. Sorry everyone.**

**EDIT: Also, there are some things in this chapter that might trigger a few people. It's really just implied and it's nothing that would deseve an M rating, but still, it's always good to warn people.**

* * *

"So let me see if I understand this clearly," Master Hand said with a noticeable irritated tone. "You convinced Mewtwo to connect both Robins minds to each other so the female Robin could help Robin overcome his inner demon. And you thought it was alright to just barge into my laboratory and kidnap him so you could try that plan out without telling me anything."

"Would you have agreed with the plan if she told you that?"

"...No, I wouldn't," the hand would have frowned if he had a face. "I honestly think this plan is insane."

"That's why we had to do it this way."

"Lucina, I understand that you want Robin to stay the way he is, but he deserves a new, better life without the influence of Grima over him," Master Hand said.

"But-"

"It is the best solution for him, as much as it pains me to admit it," he turned around, ready to float towards the apartment's window. "I'm going to wake Mewtwo up and ask him to hand me both Robins. Please do not interfere anymore."

Lucina would not have any of that. Master Hand absolutely refused to give a chance to Robin's plan, not to mention she had absolutely no idea what might happen to both Robins if Mewtwo were to suddenly be woken up while he connectedthem. So in an act of desperation, she unsheathed her Falchion and gave a swift and precise strike on his body.

Master Hand cried out in shock, stopping on his tracks as the sharp pain hit him. He hovered there for a few seconds, his mind processing what just happened. That was the second time... That was the second time a Smasher attacked him. All in one day. And to defend someone who was doomed from the start.

"Lucina."

"Think what you want, Master Hand. I will not allow you to interrupt them," Lucina boldly said, getting into her fighting stance. "There is hope for Robin! You just don't want to see it."

"Are you seriously thinking in challenging me outside of Final Destination?"

"If necessary, I will."

"...Lucina, stop being foolish and let me finish what I started," he turned around once more and tried floating upwards, but Lucina leapedleapt into the air and over Master Hand, slashing him and knocking him to the ground. Master Hand yelped and angrily turned back to her, the pain still stinging in his body. "That is quite _enough_!"

Lucina gasped and got in a defensive position as Master Hand advanced on her. To her surprise, however instead of attacking her, the hand simply grabbed the Falchion by its blade and yanked it off from her hand. To say her jaw almost hit the floor would be an understatement.

"W-What?"

"You want to behave like a child, then you shall be treated like one," he said, making the Falchion disappear. "I honestly didn't want to do that, especially not right after confiscating Shulk's Monado, but you leave me no choice."

"You confiscated Shulk's weapon?!" she exclaimed.

"He also had the brilliant idea of attacking me in order to distract me from Robin," he sarcastically replied.

"But-"

"You shall get it back once you go into battle, but only in battle. I will leave your Falchion under the care of a trusted Mii and she will only deliver it to you near the arena. Once I'm done taking care of Robin, we shall discuss for how long this punishment will go," he then turned around. "Now if I may..."

Yet Lucina would not give up. With her Falchion or not, she still had to do something. So as Master Hand started to float upwards, she jumped towards him and firmly latched herself into his thumb, legs dangling in the air as she tightened her grip in order to not fall down or be shaken off.

"What?!" Master Hand exclaimed in surprise. "Lucina, let go right this instant!"

"No! I cannot allow you to interrupt them!" she said, nails digging firmly into his skin.

"Why do you insist? Why won't you listen to me?!"

"Why won't you listen to _us_?!" she finally screamed. For a moment she forgot that she should be keeping her voice down.

There were a few residents going to their windows in order to see what the commotion was all about, mainly the ones from the first and second floors, but they seemed atloss of what to do when they saw one of the Smashers latching herself onto a floating hand's thumb. It really wasn't something they would see everyday, and quite a few of them were fans of the Smash Bros tournaments.

"Why won't you give us a chance?" Lucina continued. "We just want to save our friend, nothing else!"

"Because I know what it is best for him. You must believe me that I also don't like the idea of him having his memories erased and starting from zero, but-"

"No, no you don't feel sorry at all!" she angrily retorted. "Because you just refuse to look at any other alternative that isn't your own solution. The other Robin is trying what she can to bring him back and help him fight Grima, but all you want to do is erase him because you don't want to even make an effort to actually save him!"

Master Hand got quiet for a moment and gently hovered down so Lucina could land. During that small time of them not exchanging a word, Lucina started to realize just what she had said. Or rather, the manner she spoke to her creator. She wouldn't take back a single word she had said, but maybe it wasn't a good idea to just shout them at Master Hand expecting him to realize just how proud and close-minded he was.

She was absolutely terrified of him, but the fear of losing her friend simply was simply greaterand in a way allowed her to gather the (very stupid) courage to face him.

Instead of being angry or punishing her, though, Master Hand remained calm. Unnervingly so, if someone were to ask Lucina. "How do you even know this plan will work?" he asked.

"We don't know," Lucina admitted. "But we need to try it anyway. If it does, we might be able to have Robin back without having to erase his memories."

"...Very well, you may proceed," he made a stop sign at Lucina before she could open her mouth. "However, should this plan of yours fail, then I shall take him back and give him a new soul."

"It will not fail."

"We shall see about that."

Lucina clenched her teeth as she saw the hand preparing to leave. The other Robin would not fail, she had hope in her.

* * *

If there was absolutely one thing that Robin refused to do it was scream. No matter how much Grima taunted her, or terrorized her, she would not give in to his threats. Being blind and powerless against the fell dragon, she really didn't have any hopes of escaping, but she would not give him the satisfaction of hearing her scream in agony from his shock torture.

Unfortunately, she was not made of iron. By the third time Grima placed his hand on her forehead and used an Elthunder spell on her, Robin couldn't do much but roll her eyes and let out a painful grunt. She could feel her entire body paralyze and her mind becoming dangerously numb, but still not enough for her to completely lose any rational sense.

"Already getting tired? Well, that's not any fun," Grima taunted as he gave her time to catch her breath. "This vessel had a lot more resistance than you."

"Guh..." she turned her head. "Screw… You..."

"Ah, maybe later," he stopped to ponder for a bit. "Though it is an interesting idea. I bet you would like that, wouldn't you?"

No, no, no, don't even think about it, she thought, not really with enough energy to say it and spit on his face.

"Why the angry face?" Grima said as he used his free hand to slightly lift her head and bring it closer to his face, fingers roughly grasping a chunk of her hair and hurting her scalp. "After all, you seemed to enjoy it the last time we kissed. It's not as if this vessel and I were any different, we're all the same. In a way, I could also be considered your lover."

"You and him… Are not the same..." Robin said with a croak voice.

"It is amazing how you are still in denial."

The shadows that passed by them started growing a slower pace, but none of them seemed to pay attention to what was happening between them. All except one, who had actually stopped to watch.

_...Away..._

"Oh, well, we have all the time in the world to decide that," he dropped her head on the floor. "In the meantime, let's continue from where we left off."

He pressed his fingers on her forehead and shocked her again, this time earning him a much more satisfying cry from her. It wasn't as loud or desperate as he wanted, but he would take it. As much as he hated to admit, Robin was still resisting him. As much as he just loved seeing the pain she was going through, he couldn't dwell on his torture for too long, despite him claiming otherwise.

Robin fought back the tears that threatened to escape, as much as she wanted nothing but to get away from him and cry. She had no idea how much she could stand the pain, how much she could take from Grima's magic before she collapsed.

And the shadow continued to watch.

_Get… Away…_

"Poor little Robin, came all the way here to save someone who is already lost," he continued to taunt. "And to think people relied on you in times of war."

"Rob… help me..." she whispered.

Grima moved his hand from her forehead to her neck, earning a much more pleasing reaction of fear to him. A sudden small burst of energy came over to Robin as she felt his hand pressing on her throat, giving her just enough strength to thrash her legs desperately and try to free herself from his grasp. Unfortunately, that was not enough, and Robin soon found herself loosing that same energy that gave her hopes of fighting back.

"Not… again..."

"You are nothing. Just a pathetic little girl who thinks she's worthy of love. It's no wonder the only person capable of returning your affections was this imbecile of a vessel. You two really do deserve each other."

_I said…_

"But maybe you can be of some use," the fell dragon said, lips getting dangerously close to hers. "I do wonder how he will react when he saw you let yourself get ruined by me right when you thought you could save him."

_GET AWAY FROM HER!_

All of a sudden she felt Grima being knocked away from her. Being completely blind, Robin had no idea what just happened and it took her a while to fully comprehend the fact that she was now free from his grasp and now it was the perfect time to escape. Her entire body was still numb and her head hurt like hell, but that didn't stop her from getting back at her feet and running away from him.

"Don't think you'll escape this easily!" Grima shouted as he got free from the shadow that attacked him.

Suddenly something held Robin on the spot, as if her feet were glued to the floor. Before she could even stop to wonder what in the world was going on, she felt the ground beneath her suddenly disappear. With a shout of surprise, Robin fell into the abyss.

Grima leaped towards her only to have the ground closing up before he could follow her. "DAMN YOU!" he roared, slamming his fist on the ground."Who do you think you are?! You belong to me now, you shouldn't have any power!"

There was no answer. Grima took a moment to regain his composure, his mind already thinking about what to do about the situation. His frustration didn't last long, as he knew the girl couldn't have gotten far in the state she was in. He would find her, he knew it well. And if she by some miracle found the boy… Well, he would make sure that he would ruin her right in front of him.

It would be like killing two birds with a single stone! It was perfect!

"You are just prolonging the inevitable," Grima said as he got up. "You can't protect her forever and I will make sure to show both of you your place."

* * *

Robin fell face first on the hard floor with a loud thud. For some odd reason the impact didn't hurt at all, even though she could feel it. Nevertheless she let out a whimper and took a good few seconds to even gather the energy to stand up.

"Ugh..."

She furiously rubbed her eyes, kind of hopping her vision would return to normal, but not really believing that would be the case. It was most likely that she would be blind for a long. Wonderful, just wonderful! She was already lost as it was, without a clue to where the real Rob could be and now she couldn't even know where she was.

Not that that would make any difference, because if she were to take a look around her, she still wouldn't know where to go. Robin was in a small, circular room with bookshelves that reached up to ridiculous heights, way taller than the standard bookshelves she would usually see. They circled her in such a way that there didn't seem to be an exit, but it wasn't as if she would know that.

Robin slowly got up and walked with careful steps to her right, arm stretched in front of her just so she wouldn't bump into anything. She ended up touching one of the various books in front of her and after a few seconds just touching the various covers, the tactician realized she might be inside a library. She wanted to call for Rob one more time, to ask him if where he could be or ask for some guidance, but she also feared Grima would be the one to answer. She was sure that if Grima were to find her again, he would not waste time taunting her and would not hesitate to give an even worse torture for her.

Being quiet really was the only precaution she could use to not make Grima spot her. And that is if she didn't consider that he could be at her side already, unless he made a noise that would give his presence away.

"Uuuuugh!" she rubbed her eyes again.

If only she could see.

Robin didn't know what else to do, she was trapped. She just came up with this insane plan because she wanted to bring Rob back to his senses and make him stand up to Grima, yet here she was, afraid of and shivering from the same problem that she swore she would save him from.

"I'm so sorry, Rob..." the tactician sniffed. "I'm so sorry..."

Without a clue to where to go, Robin took the time to simply sit against the bookshelves and try to calm down. She couldn't cry now, even with everything that has been happening. She took a deep breath, and then another one right after that, always focusing on the action than on the aching sensation on her throat and watery eyes.

She couldn't cry now. But oh was it tempting.

"Keep it together," she sniffed again, rubbing her sleeve on her eyes before any tears could fall from them.

Robin tried to focus on figuring it out how she could best Grima and get to Rob. With that spell, it just made her job of finding him a lot harder. If only she could know how to get rid of it. If only she knew any healing spells, that would have helped a lot.

"Keep it together," she told herself again.

She got up and decided to continue exploring the room around her. There were just books and more books, with an occasional wall between the bookshelves, but she couldn't find an exit at all. After a few minutes of just walking around and exploring, Robin came to the conclusion that the "library" couldn't be any larger than a regular bedroom.

At least Grima wouldn't get her there… Maybe, possibly. She got in there with Rob's help (also a big maybe), but she didn't doubt Grima's capacity to invade that little room too.

There must be something there that she could use to get out of there, anything would do, really. There was no way she was stuck, she just had to look harder. Or… Feel it, in her case. Robin honestly wanted to slap herself for some of her unintentional ironic thoughts sometimes. She shook her head and continued walking around, wondering if she could take something from the shelves.

_Clink._

It was then when she heard an odd sound coming from the floor. Raising an eyebrow, Robin stepped again on the black tile bellow her. She could hear the same sound of marble hitting cement again. Tilting her head to the side she gave another step, just to be sure. The same sound came out.

"Uh."

She crouched and started tinkering with the tile. As she suspected, it was really loose, so it didn't take much for her to remove it. As soon as she did that, there was a loud rumbling noise behind her that made the tactician jump in a fright. One of the bookshelves had moved out of the way, showing a dimly lit passage at the other side. Robin had no idea what had just happened, but something good must have been. She dropped the tile and walked towards where the sound came from, only to find out she was now inside a narrow corridor.

So narrow, in fact, that she could not stretch her arms sideways entirely. Dangerous or not, that path was still better than staying in that micro library, so Robin pressed forward.

_Robin, don't…_

Robin let out a shriek, her nerves incredibly sensitive. "Rob…?" she whispered, the sudden paranoia of Grima hearing her making her wary of his voice.

_Please stop doing this… Just turn around and leave._

"Rob, stop being vague and just tell me where you are. I just want to help you… I know I haven't been doing a good job at it until now, but I really want to help you."

_But you're goin-_

"Please!"

_...Just keep walking… I think._

He actually heard her this time! Robin couldn't be any more relieved. She was probably a lot closer to him than she initially thought and that thought alone gave her enough motivation to hasten up her pace. She kept walking and was forced to stop when one of her hands reached the cold, mahogany double doors at the end of the corridor. Taking a deep breath, she grabbed the golden, horn shaped handle and opened the doors.

She was immediately greeted by a familiar and comforting voice.

"Robin, what are you doing here?"

It was him! She finally found Rob! Robin just wanted to run and jump in his arms, as if nothing else in the world mattered at the moment!

"Ah..."

Yet she didn't. As much as she was happy, she had absolutely no idea if that was the same Rob. For all she knew, that could be another trap.

"Oh, I see," she heard him say. "It's okay, I understand if you don't want to get near me. I would do the same thing."

"..."

"I'm so sorry, Robin… I couldn't fight him off..." his voice cracked a bit. "I was weak."

She gave a step forward, but still didn't get close to him.

"And because of me you almost got killed..."

"..."

"Ever since we've been together, all I've ever done is worry you," he continued, his voice becoming gradually meek. "I… I don't even know why you still put up with me. All I've given you was grief and headache..."

Robin slowly kept walking towards him, even though he didn't seem notice.

"You could have so much better, so why..."

He was interrupted by her hands softly touching his chest. Confused by the sudden gesture, he just watched as her hands traveled all the way to his cheeks, her touch as gentle as it could get.

"If you weren't worth it, I would never go this far to find you," Robin simply said.

Rob couldn't muster up the words to answer her, so he pulled her into a tight embrace, burying his face on her shoulder. Robin returned the embrace with the same intensity without uttering a word as she could feel his tears on her clothes. She could feel his entire body shaking with grief. For some reason his arms felt heavy and there was a familiar metallic sound coming from them. "I almost killed you..." he sobbed. "Worse, Grima was hurting you not long ago and I couldn't save you fast enough… I saw him doing all these terrible things and I couldn't gather enough strength to fight him off..."

She just caressed his hair and continued to quietly listen to him sob, feeling her own eyes start to get teary with every "sorry" he said. She knew that no matter how much she tried to say that it was alright, that would not help at all, so she just listened to him cry in silence. It really wasn't much, but it seemed to be helping.

After a few minutes of comforting him, she ended up breaking the hug. She heard the metallic sound again, louder this time, and it didn't take much for her to guess what it was.

"Rob… Are those chains?"

"Um, yeah, they are," he sniffed, looking down at his feet and hands. "Grima put these on me a while ago. It's a long story."

"Well, isn't there any way to take them off? Maybe a key or something that counts as one?"

"I've never seen a key for these chains," he bitterly said.

"You can't stay here forever. We have to do something..."

"I still think you should leave and save yourself."

"That's really not an option."

Rob took a good look at her face. Robin's eyes seemed vague, looking everywhere as if she couldn't focus them on one place. "Robin? Is everything alright?" he asked. "You look kind of distracted."

"Ah… I..." she rubbed her arm. "Um… Grima kind of blinded me."

"What?!"

"I have no idea what kind of spell he used, but he managed to blind me."

"Please tell me this won't be permanent..." he said nervously as his thumb ran across her cheeks.

"I hope not," she mumbled.

"And you still want to try to help me? I don't..."

"Rob, just answer me this: if it was me in your place, what would you do?"

"...I would do the same."

After that answer, he just looked away. Of course he would do the same no matter what threats were thrown at him, but that still didn't mean he agreed on what she was doing.

"Robin, maybe you should just let me deal with him alone."

"Rob, Master Hand will erase your soul and memories if we don't come up with a solution now! He knows about Grima and will do anything in his power to get rid of him, even if that means getting rid of you as well!"

"He what?"

"Since you and Grima are linked, he probably assumed that once he got rid of you, he would get rid of Grima," she explained.

Before Rob could say anything, a loud and cruel laugh resonated through the empty, dark room. Gritting his teeth. Rob instantly pulled Robin closer to him as the fell dragon walked towards them in slow and confident steps, satisfied with where he had the two Smashers. His amusement seemed to grow with how the closer he got the harder he gripped her.

"I just knew you would bring Robin closer to you, as if that would make any difference," he let out an amused grin. "But thank you for making my job of finding her a lot easier. Now this is when the fun really begins."

* * *

**I'm still kind of sad that nobody got the reference of the last chapter right. The circle of doors actually was a reference to the hub world of a game called Yume Nikki (not to be confused with Mirai Nikki, because screw that anime). And thanks to a comment Makokam made when he was beta reading this chapter, now I can only imagine John Cena's theme playing when Lucina grabbed Master Hand by the thumb. You go, John Lucena!**

Singer Queen: **Nope, it was from a little game called Yume Nikki. Nice try though.**

Kaestal: **Never watched The Matrix, so I can't tell. **

Kuromiluv909: **Oh, ok****ay****, that's nice. Also, like I told in the PM, I'm not answering your question here.**

Gamerfan64: **Cool****.**

ShadowFenix98: **Cool****.**

PozzyP: **Well, to be fair, Robin realized that it wasn't Rob pretty quickly. Also, considering that she did try to escape and was outrun by him, she was probably already doomed the moment he spotted her there. I don't think I understand why Lucina would be trying to get the best of both worlds? Wasn't she just lusting over Robin? Yup, you really should! Opinions on waifu material are really important, you just need to take notes on that! That would actually be an interesting power. And can also prevent you from being at the mercy of terrible people!**

SmashBrosFan96: **I can see why you would associate doors with Scooby Doo, but Courage? I don't remember doors being something that important in the cartoon. But no, it was just a reference to Yume Nikki. Lucina won't be taking over, but that doesn't mean she's not being of great help by telling Master Hand off (and getting her Falchion confiscated because of this). I don't know, I guess I'm just not as fond of Super Mario Bros stuff like I was before. I still love the Mario series, but I can't get excited over this game at all. But the Mario Maker stage looks pretty cool, I'll give you that! And teleport is a classical choice, but also very useful.**

NitroTheKidd88: **Please don't make me imagine Shulk getting a Master Spanking. This can turn out so wrong in so many ways. He just got his Monado confiscated for the time being (something tells me that punishment won't be over for them). Run-on sentences are great, you just said everything that happened in the chapter in one sentence. Exactly! Lucina needs to take that anchor off and let the Peachcina ship sail, though this looks more like a canoe than an actual ship, because it's just so unpopular. **

**Actually, that wasn't a joke. Lucina claiming that Robin was trying to seduce Chrom is basically her entire support conversation with her (when Robin is not her mother). And then she gets offended that Robin is not infatuated with him and demands she starts falling in love with him. Nope, it wasn't. But I'm glad you thought about this game anyway. **

**Yeah, I get the Dio reference. I'm not even in the Jojo's Bizarre Adventure fandom and I still think it's funny. If that's not much of a review, then I'm really curious to see what is a long review to you!**

Bighat12: **Take the time you need, it's okay! Wow, Crazy Hand really got popular, I'm still surprised over this (Jigglypuff shall remain the ultimate pun master). Good choice on waifu, if I must say. Excellent choice, actually. Shape shifting really isn't a popular choice, but I agree with you! All the possibilities to avoid situations you don't want and how much you can mess with people. That's would be interesting. **

**Nope, what she saw was basically Robin and Chrom doing stuff that I can't mention in this Christian game. Oh, sorry if I disappointed you, but Rob has a physical body (sorta, it's more like a projection of his consciousness), just like Grima and Robin. True, it's always important to trust in your gut feelings, but if Lucina did that, the plot would have gone in a very different direction, so let's just make her doubt herself and face Master Hand instead. How come you find all the best quotes? Must be some other level power.**

Makokam: **Well, if you see it that way, time manipulation is one of the best powers that help you not face any consequences for your actions. Like punching someone you hate in the throat. But regeneration is also great, because you would get a little less worries about some injuries. **

**Wouldn't that be interesting?! I don't know, I thought I would sidetrack a lot if I kept making her see memory after memory, so I tried to cut her mind exploration a bit. ****If I put more subplots, this fic will never end and while I'm having a lot of fun with it, I really want to move on. But yeah, now you've got me thinking. I've always had the impression that Robin (regardless of their gender) was bi, because I don't believe in that platonic soul mates shtick he has with Chrom for one second. Rob had never been into Shulk, but I did mention waaaaay back in early chapters that Shulk did fantasize about him once or maybe twice, but was too much into Fiora to take those thoughts seriously. There's a 95% chance that Shulk is straight in this story. **

**Well, I'm glad the delivery was good at least. But yeah, if it was me, I probably would have called that too. It was like the situation was asking for it. Mewtwo is a lonely jerk, but he has a good heart, okay? He's DEFINITELY not using steak to encourage Ness to visit him and talk to him. Yup, and now he can really say "You know what? Fuck Lucina too."**


	28. To slay Grima

**And we are finally getting closer to the end. Sorry for making you wait!**

**Thanks a lot to LegitElizabethWWEFan and Makokam for helping with this chapter! Seriously, thanks a lot!**

* * *

Things weren't looking good for the tacticians. That was a fact. With Rob chained and Robin blind, it was clear that Grima had the upper hand in the situation. And boy, did he know about that. Rob couldn't begin to explain how much he wanted to punch the Fell Dragon as he smirked at them. His nose was stuck up in the air like he owned the damn place. All Rob could do was bring Robin closer to him.

Grima stopped a few feet away from them with that signature condescending look in his eyes. It was as if he was toying with them, daring them to make one abrupt move so that he could attack. He really didn't seem worried that he was now against the two of them. He would win regardless. He was so very certain of this.

"Now get out of the way," Grima said, motioning for Rob to step aside. "Robin and I have some…unfinished business."

"Don't you dare lay a finger on her!" Rob snarled.

"I don't think you're in a position to demand anything," Grima replied. "Just go sit in your corner like an obedient vessel and let me take care of her."

Robin took two steps back while pulling Rob with her. There was no escape. Even if she could try running away, she wouldn't- no, she _couldn't_\- leave Rob there.

"Robin, I'll try to distract him," Rob whispered. "I want you to run and try to escape as fast as possible, okay?"

Grima's hand started to glow a dangerous purple light. The sound of a charging Ruin or Mire spell was immediately noticed by the blind tactician.

"I will not ask again," Grima said menacingly. "Step aside, or I will go through you first."

Rob said nothing and continued to shield her from him. Grima let out an annoyed huff and pointed his hand at him. Once the magic finished charging, Grima shot it in his direction. It was aimed directly at his chest. A precise strike was everything his vessel needed to know about where he should stand.

What Grima did _not _expect was Robin pushing Rob out of the way and taking the critical hit instead.

"ROBIN!" Rob screamed.

Robin fell on the ground with a loud thud, her body convulsing from the jolt of dark magic that had hit her. Both Rob and Grima stood there; one in a petrified despair, while the other in a surprised state of shock. But Rob was the one to crouch down and take her in his arms.

"No, no, no, no..." he murmured. "Robin, come on, open your eyes… Robin, please..."

"That's pretty impressive timing for someone who's blind," Grima commented.

Rob shot him a murderous glare. If the chains weren't holding him back, he would already be punching Grima to a pulp. Maybe that was why Grima refused to get any closer to them.

"Don't give me that look," he said in a condescending tone. "She was the one who pushed you out of the way. She's the one responsible for this."

"I'll kill you..."

"You cannot kill me," Grima said with a smirk. "Now step aside and let me finish her. Who knows? You might even like what you will see."

Rob shook his chains as he tried to break free. There must have been something he could do! This was his own mind, for crying out loud! Why was he so weak? Why couldn't he just do something right for a change?

"Get out of the way."

Rob said nothing and continued to use himself as a shield for Robin. To say Grima was a little upset with his defiance would be an understatement. Without saying another word, he began charging a Mire spell.

"R-Rob..." Robin whispered, taking him by surprise. "You're...stronger than…you think..."

Grima launched the spell and hit Rob on his back. He bit his lower lip to avoid a scream, taking the pain in silence.

"That's some act you're pulling for someone who was begging me not to hurt their lover," Grima mocked. "Let's see how much you can endure before this façade ends."

"It's not your fault…that he lives inside of you…" Robin continued. She paused to wince when Grima hit them again. "But you need…to fight back..."

"Robin..."

"It's not easy… But I know you can do it..."

Grima let out an annoyed groan and finished charging another spell. One more hit should be enough to tame him and make him get away from her. The spell hit Rob on the back once again, bringing on an unbearable, burning pain. It almost made him pass out on top of Robin; how he was still conscious was a miracle.

"Alright, enough of this," Grima said, finally getting closer to the tacticians.

He pushed Rob to the side with his foot, his grin returning to his face when he saw Robin struggling to get up.

"You know, none of this would be happening if both of you just knew your place," he added.

Grima grabbed Robin by her hood and dragged her away from him. He dropped her head on the floor once he thought she was far away enough from Rob, who jolted his head up and started to struggle against the chains. Grima simply sneered at him and turned his attention back to Robin. As he saw her trying to crawl away, he calmly sat on her stomach and pinned her shoulders to the ground with ease. A smile now etched on his feature.

"I hope you scream a lot," he said as he moved his hands from her shoulders to her wrists. "Make sure you put on a show for him, _love_."

Rob suddenly managed to break his chains. He didn't know how he did it and he didn't know why, but he did know one thing: he was burning with rage. His anger and adrenaline were so high that he forgot for a moment he was ever in pain. Before Grima could do anything else, Rob punched him in the face, forcing him to get away from the struggling tactician. Grima rubbed his cheek, eyes wide in shock.

"What the-?! How..."

"Rob?!" Robin cried.

Rob said nothing and quickly pulled her up. He supported her once he realized she would stumble from the sudden action. Before Grima could get up, Rob opened a bright portal on one of the pitch black walls and pulled Robin in with him.

Grima let out a frustrated cry as the corridor closed before he could follow them. This was getting old fast. But now he had no idea where Rob could have taken her to. He wouldn't make a mistake next time. He would not waste any more time with frivolous taunting. He would destroy both of them.

* * *

The place Rob took them was unlike anything Robin had seen until that point. But it had a familiar atmosphere that put her a lot more at ease. She had absolutely no idea where they could be, but it was a comforting place. Or maybe it was the fact that they were safe from Grima for the moment that put her at ease. She couldn't tell.

The two were currently in an open, greenery field, one that reminded Rob of the few days of peace he had in his life. He was sure this was one of the very few places Grima could not reach them… Probably. Maybe. Nonetheless, it felt nice for him to finally be outside of that dark chamber after so long.

"Robin, are you alright?" she heard Rob ask. She felt him gently run his hands over her arms.

"I've been better. But thank you for saving me," she replied. She took his hands into hers and rubbed her thumbs on his cuffs. "How bad are your injuries?"

Rob winced. "Nothing that he hasn't been doing to me lately. Though this time he kept throwing spells non-stop. Usually he takes his time."

"He's probably growing desperate," Robin mused.

"I'm the one growing desperate seeing you still here after he..."

A lump suddenly formed on Rob's throat. He had to clear his throat several times to get rid of it. Once it was gone, he resumed speaking.

"I mean, how can you be this calm after he…"

"Rob, I know, but-"

"He was going to hurt you in so many ways, just to get to me… How can you be so calm with this?!"

"I'm NOT calm!" Robin exclaimed, her voice shaking a bit. "Do you really think I would be after what he's done to me?! I'm just trying my best to keep it together so we can find a way to defeat Grima!"

"After everything he's done, maybe it would be for the best that Master Hand erased my soul."

After hearing that, Robin let go of his grasp to hug her stomach. She couldn't have heard that right. He couldn't possibly have considered _that_.

"Y-You're kidding...right?" she asked nervously.

"I'm serious. Maybe it is for the best. If that means being reborn without Grima being a part of me… Then yeah, maybe having my soul and memories erased is the best option."

"I hope you realize that it isn't some soul cleansing process that's going to make you feel as good as new!" she exclaimed. "Master Hand will just create another Robin! He will _kill _you, and then _replace _you with another person!"

"I'm aware of that."

"Yet you still think that it's a good idea?!"

"Robin, just look at where you are right now. Look at what Grima has done to you!" Rob shouted. "Don't you think that maybe this is the reason why the process is necessary?"

"No, it's all the more reason why you should keep fighting!" Robin countered.

There was a tense silence between the two tacticians. Rob didn't seem to be taking any of her words to heart. It was as if he was determined to let Master Hand have his way. He wouldn't say a word, so she kept guessing if he was reconsidering or not.

Was that how Chrom felt when she contemplated destroying herself to get at Grima? Was that how the Shepherds felt when she had gone through with sacrificing herself? She remembered their faces when they found her alive in the road by a miracle she couldn't comprehend. They must have suffered so much. And now here she was, going through the same thing.

"Robin, I don't want to hurt anyone anymore," he said, trying his best to not let his voice crack. "I don't want you to be in any more danger because of me."

"So you're willing to give up because of this?" Robin questioned. "Everything we've done until now was all for nothing?"

"I'm just saying-"

"So all this time we've been together really didn't mean anything to you?" Robin interrupted, not even bothering to hold back the tears at this point. "What about Lucina? Or Shulk? Or any of the other Smashers? Isn't what they think important enough for you?"

"Of course they are!"

"Then why are you willing to let yourself get killed, to throw all your memories away, when all we've been doing is trying to help you?"

"I..."

"Rob, you're important to us. We don't want to lose you. That's why we've gotten this far to try to bring you back. But as much as I want to, I can't fight this battle for you, all I can do is be by your side. You need to face Grima yourself."

For a moment she thought Rob would completely ignore her. All she could do was try to talk him out of that idea, but she couldn't force him into anything.

She didn't need to worry for long because no more than seconds later she heard a defeated sigh from him. What followed was a small "alright".

"Alright what?" she asked with a grin.

"I will do my best. I'll try to fight him off one more time," Rob replied. "But please promise me that if you get in any danger, you'll get out of here, okay? I can't lose you."

"I promise," Robin said. "But you know what, Rob?"

"What?"

"I have a feeling that we'll be fine."

Rob didn't know if he believed it, but that was fine. Robin's optimism more than made up for lack of confidence.

"I hope you're right, Robin," he said, opening a portal on the ground. "Let's go."

Robin took his hand and gave him a reassuring smile. To her surprise, her vision seemed to be returning to normal little by little. She began seeing extremely blurred shapes at first, barely being able to recognize Rob by her side, even though she knew it was him. It wouldn't be until they crossed the portal that she would be able to see everything clearly. Was Grima's spell temporary after all or was she somehow starting to break free from his control? She couldn't tell, but she would not waste any more time just to stop and think about it.

They were there for each other, and that was the most important thing. There was nothing to fear.

With a silent agreement, they jumped into the portal.

* * *

Grima really didn't expect for his vessel to return to him; not this soon. He had been searching for him left and right in the middle of that gigantic castle where he'd started stalking Robin. But he did not expect to find him walking so calmly in his direction.

"Oh? Tired of hiding already?" he asked with a smug grin.

"I suppose you could say that," Rob spat through gritted his teeth.

"And you even brought Robin with you! What a lovely surprise."

"Can't let him deal with you alone, now can I?" Robin answered.

Grima's smug grin quickly turned into a disgusted frown. Of course she couldn't.

"I'll show you what happens when you refuse to submit to your god!" he snarled.

Rob just looked at him dead in the eye.

"You are no god," he answered. "You are nothing."

Grima finally snapped. With a loud, ear-piercing roar, the Fell Dragon was enveloped by a massive wave of dark energy. The pitch black ground suddenly began to shake, bright contrasting cracks appearing here and there, taking both Rob and Robin by surprise. The earthquake reached a point of intensity where they couldn't stand up anymore and had to use each other both for support and also seeking protection.

The ground suddenly became uneven and rather unstable, but not unfamiliar to them, since one look around them was enough to realize they were now standing on a gigantic dragon's back- Grima's back. Now that they were outside of that dark chamber, they could see the tempestuous dark sky and heavy clouds that covered the entire view below.

What caught their attention however was the huge six-eyed dragon head that kept staring menacingly at them, as well as its human form that stood bellow it.

Grima let out another roar. Rob could feel his breath become more frantic. This time there were no Shepherds to assist them, to fight by their side. The Smashers also could not reach them and help. It really was just them alone against Grima.

"Robin, look."

Rob turned his head at his lover, surprised that she had called him by his name and not by nickname.

"The base of his neck," Robin said, pointing at where the human form stood. "It must be the same weak spot from before. If his avatar is standing there, he must be there to protect it."

"I… I don't know, Robin…" he said. Rob then shook his head and took a deep breath. "Just… remember what you promised me, okay?"

Robin nodded and the two ran towards Grima, who was less than pleased with the situation. With a flick of his hand, he made the gigantic dragon head breathe a fatal dark fire in their direction. Luckily for them, Robin reacted just in time and pulled Rob out of the way.

That was close, Rob thought. For once he was actually grateful that Robin was there by his side. As much as he wanted for her to stay safe, she still went to war in the past. She still served as Chrom's chief tactician, and had to go through the same experiences as him. She still was the same Robin that shared the fighter slot with him in Smash. If anything, she was his most powerful ally.

And it was at that moment he felt how stupid he'd been for trying to push her away. Just how much had he forgotten about how it was the bonds between him and his comrades that saved him from Grima before?

Grima shot another ball of fire in their direction, now aiming specifically at Robin. This time it was Rob who tackled her out of the way.

"Rob, don't worry about me and go," Robin said as both she and Rob got up. "Focus on getting closer to him and attacking."

"I'm not leaving you behind!"

"I'll be right by your side," she said, giving him a confident look for the first time in so long. "I can't do any damage to him, but I can look out for you and be your shield, so don't worry about dodging attacks too much. Focus on Grima."

Rob agreed with her plan, even if he was still insecure about her well-being. He had to trust her, just like she trusted he would do his best in fighting back.

"Irritating pest!" Grima sneered.

He raised his hand again, ready to command another attack from the dragon head, however Rob saw through what he planned to do and materialized a translucent Levin sword out of thin air. Before the Fell Dragon could do anything, he swung the Levin sword upwards and a bolt of lightning descended from the skies, striking Grima's avatar's head.

Grima cried out in pain, though he was far from defeated. If anything, that attack only served to enrage him more. He would not leave the spot where he stood for nothing, but he would not go down that easily.

"**Give up...**" he snarled, his voice getting an increasingly metallic, demonic tone. "**This mind and body belong to me...**"

Rob simply glared at him and swung the Levin sword again. Grima however was fast enough to dodge the attack and flick his hand at them again. The dragon screeched, causing an array of black needles to sprout from his back and try to stab both Robins. They managed to jump out of harm's way just in time to not suffer any fatal damage, but one of the needles ended up cutting Rob's arm anyway. He hissed at the wound and accidentally dropped the Levin sword as he tried to cover it up with his hand.

Seeing that brief moment of weakness, Grima charged a quick Ruin spell and shot it at his direction. There was no way he would be able to react in time, Rob certainly would take the hit.

Robin, however, was able to react in time. Before Rob could be hit, Robin threw herself at him, shielding him from the Ruin spell before it could do any more damage.

"Predictable!" she exclaimed.

"R-Robin, are you-?"

"It's alright," she said. "I'm fine, see?"

And indeed she was. Robin had managed to block the Ruin spell without suffering a scratch. It was just as she suspected, Grima could not hold any power over her. Yes, Rob's mind was the place where Grima held most power and Robin could not attack him there or destroy his very essence, but that also meant he could not destroy her as well.

It was a two-way road in which neither could attack the other.

But due to her own fear of losing Rob to him, her own insecurities and fear over her past connection to Grima, the Fell Dragon managed to get the upper hand and overpower her. In the end, she and Rob were not so different regarding their feelings towards the ghost of their past, despite the different outcomes of their time lines.

So did that mean that she overcame her fear? Robin wasn't sure if that was the case, as even now she couldn't look at the dragon's true face without feeling a terrible sense of dread, but she was willing to gather as much courage as possible, if that meant helping Rob getting rid of Grima.

"Ready?" Robin asked and pointed at Grima.

Rob nodded and materialized the Levin sword on his hand again. The look of panic on Grima's face was more than enough to bring him some of the confidence he had been severely lacking these past weeks.

He slashed the Levin sword and summoned a lightning bolt that hit Grima right in his stomach. The dragon let out a howl of pain as the human form stumbled backwards, and reacted by summoning the same black needles from before. Just like before, Robin had managed to shield Rob from the fatal attack without suffering any harm.

Grima could only watch in despair as his vessel continued to run towards him, being immediately followed by the girl who had been the source of much headache.

"**No**…** No...**"

The Levin sword on Rob's hand suddenly took the form of a Thoron tome, much to both Grima and Robin's surprise. The tactician began charging the spell, not even bothering with how close he was to Grima's human form at this point, nor even with how he commanded for the dragon head to let out another breath of fire. Unfortunately, neither tactician was fast enough to react to the attack this time.

"Ugh!"

"ROBIN!" Robin cried, covering her mouth with her hands.

For a moment, Grima smiled. That was more of what he wanted to see, the look of suffering and despair on the boy's face. That satisfaction lasted only a second, however, since Rob stared at him with a defiant look on his face while he took in the pain from the dark fire. But what really caught his attention was the fact that even when he was struck by the dragon's fire breath, no burn marks appeared on his face as the fire dissipated.

Grima looked at the tome in his hand and came to the horrifying conclusion that the boy had finished charging up his attack.

"Here's how it's done!" Rob shouted as the devastating lighting magic shot out from his hand.

The lightning bolt struck him right on his chest, a precise hit that made the Fell Dragon's avatar howl in pain and fall to his knees.

"**DAMN… YOU...**"

"This mind and body belong to me," Rob said coldly as he raised his hand, the sound of lighting cackling as he did. "You are nothing but a parasite."

Grima let out one last desperate screech as Rob struck his limp body. And with the that, the gigantic dragon's body fell from the sky, taking both Robins down with it.

For some odd reason, Rob didn't scream, even if he and Robin were free falling towards the ground. He simply took the panicking tactician in his arms and let the fall happen. Before they could even see the ground, however, both Robins blacked out.

* * *

For some strange reason, they were back at the dark chamber where Rob was being held captive not many moments ago. Robin couldn't even remember when they have arrived there, they simply awoke there. For a moment she feared that none of what they had gone through had happened, that Rob was still chained to its abstract walls, but a sigh of relief escaped from her as she saw his wrists and ankles free of cuffs.

They were fine. They would be fine.

A low, guttural groan could be heard from behind them, one made them shiver. They hesitantly turned around and found Grima laying on his stomach, struggling to get up. Or rather, whatever was left of Grima. The thing on the floor could be best be described as a shadow that somehow became three dimensional. There really was nothing about it that indicated it was the Fell Dragon, aside from its shape.

"He's still alive?" Robin asked with a hint of worry in her voice.

"He can't do anything like this," Rob explained. "It's over for him."

"But can't he be destroyed for good?"

"...I don't know, to be honest."

What he did know, however was that he couldn't leave Grima just like that. He stepped forward and made some silver cuffs appear on his hands. He expected Grima to put up a fight, to try taking over him again, but he was surprisingly calm as he let Rob cuff his hands and ankles. The chains appeared from the cuffs right after that, making their way towards the walls and finally chaining him.

For a few seconds Grima struggled against the chains, hissing and snarling at the tacticians in front of him. Rob just waited patiently until he calmed down yet again.

"This is my mind," Rob simply told him. "I'm not going to let you take it over and harm the ones I love."

The parasite glared at him and crawled back into a dark corner, his body almost blending into the shadows. Rob knew he wouldn't be a bother anymore; or at least, he wouldn't be a bother for a long time.

"Let's get out of here, Robin."

Robin gave him a bittersweet smile and followed him to outside of the chamber, leaving the defeated Grima to rot away. Maybe deep inside she already had the feeling it would end like this. Grima was not Rob, but it was still part of him. He wouldn't be destroyed that easily.

But as long as Rob continued to fight…who knows? Maybe one day he would find a way to get rid of him for good. For the moment, she would just be happy if he could wake up as himself.

As soon as they stepped outside the chamber, a bright white light began enveloping both of them.

It was time to wake up.

* * *

"Robin's not waking up. We have to do something."

"Well, what do you propose we do? I have already done everything I could."

"I have no idea..."

Those voices…

Rob let out a groan as he woke up from his deep slumber, his head feeling like it was hit by a hammer… twice. Slowly, as if to not make the headache worse, he opened his eyes, blinking them a few times to get used to the soft light.

He was then greeted by two familiar faces.

"Ah, you're finally awake," Robin said in relief.

"Hello, Robin," Lucina greeted, giving him a warm smile.

Rob just stared at them in a perplexed silence.

"Don't you think you've had enough sleep already?" Robin chuckled and offered him her hand. "Think you can get up? Give me your hand."

He kept switching glances between her hand and her eyes. It took Rob a few seconds to fully realize the situation he was in. He was alive. He had finally sealed Grima away and no one close to him would have to suffer from it again. He didn't need to die.

"R-Robin..."

"Yes?"

Without any warning, he sat up from the couch and threw his arms around her, almost making her fall over him in the process. Oh Gods, did it feel wonderful to hug her like this.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you..." he kept whispering in her ear. He tightened his embrace more, as if fearing she would go away as soon as he released her.

Robin leaned over him just slightly, returning the hug with the same intensity.

"Welcome back."

Lucina just watched them get lost in their embrace with the same warm smile on her face. Maybe now she should tell them that Master Hand was still waiting for them outside. But she didn't. They deserved this one moment together.

* * *

**Grima is finally defeated (sort of) and the Robins can finally find some peace. Or can they? Master Hand is still waiting ****for them**** outside.**

**When I first started writing this fic, I really didn't expect it to reach this state. ****My first idea w****as for it to**** just ****be**** some lighthearted romance between the Robins, but one thing led to another, then to another and now we're here. ****But I'll leave the gigantic author's note for the last chapter.**

PozzyP: **I guess it was a little of both. Master Hand wasn't comfortable at all with all the stares they were getting from strangers and if he agreed with their plans, Lucina would shut up soon. But it is also because he actually took some of her words into consideration. Remember that it was said in the beginning of the story that Master Hand isn't someone who takes too many risks. Robin's plan was a lot more risky than his, even if hers involved saving Rob from having his existence erased, while his didn't. So maybe he also decided to take this risk, because he also wasn't very fond of the idea of giving him a new soul. He was just trying to play safe. ****But yes, those are very appropriate words!**

**Grima really doesn't care as long as he can break both Robins ****to the point where neither wake up. And even if Robin did wake up, she would still have all those memories with her, so it would be easier to terrorize her afterward and keep her quiet. At least, that was Grima's line of thought. He didn't expect to anger Rob so much that he would be able to break his chains. Please don't fall off the edge, you'll get hurt.**

SmashBrosFan96: **Lucina will not take the threat of losing her friend that lightly. No wonder she lashed it out on Master Hand like that. She's just really lucky that he actually listened to her. ****Why would Master Hand kill Shulk? He's not really a villain. Master hand is more of a narrow-minded creator, as in, it's hard for him to take in consideration other options and points of view (which is kind of ironic, since he IS the creator of Super Smash Bros in this story universe). ****The thing is, most of the time the Smashers, especially newcomers, fear him more than respect him, so they always assume the worse ****because of some of the exaggerated stories from veterans.**

**Please don't make me imagine Grima making Robin into some mental sex slave... I really don't think that was his intention. ****In the end, Robin saved Robin, while Robin saved Robin. They saved each other and themselves. Now pretend that this is supposed to be deep. **

**Oh, I remember that episode from Courage. That little girl playing the violin haunted my nightmares for a long time, I'm just gonna say that. ****Yeah, Mirai Nikki didn't make a lot of sense, but I liked the concept of this supernatural battle royale. Too bad they screwed the ending.**

**I'll save all the thanks,**** notes ****and curiosities**** for ****the****last chapter****! ****Now onto the replies!**

LegitElizabethWWEFan: **I'm glad you're enjoying this fic! And thanks a lot for your help with this chapter! You helped me a lot. ****I also love happy endings and even if I wanted to give the Robins a tragic ending, I don't think I would be able to do it. I like some good fluff after a lot of trauma. **

NitroTheKidd88: **No Monado's power and vis****i****on of the future for Shulk. ****And of course, no weapon for Lucina too. It's not like Master Hand would kill them or put them in the corner of shame or anything. But he did cut part of their salary as well. Yeah, Grima was definitely considering that. I should have put a trigger in the beginning of last chapter and this one, so thanks for reminding me. **

**I'm happy that you loved it! I hope you're also happy with the result. Well, considering all your reviews, you probably are. ****Like I said, I took the questions out because I was frustrated with null reviews. You know, the ones that really were just people answering the question and nothing else. It was kind of annoying.**** Your reaction to last chapter was pretty much mine too. You can leave the feelstorm shelter now. It's all over and there are a lot of survivors.**

Wotahbotah3k: **It's okay, you review when you have time and feel like it. Well, that's one way to think about it. But you enhance your other senses with time, it's not something automatic. So Robin would have to stay blind for a long time until her other senses peaked. ****The other residents are just the Miis, be it tourists or employees.**

**See you guys on the last chapter! **


	29. Achieving the self support

**And so it ends.**

* * *

Once everyone calmed down it was finally time to face Master Hand. Having been asleep the entire time, Rob had absolutely no idea what to expect from the meeting, so he wasn't as nervous about it as Robin was. Though, to be fair, even Robin couldn't believe how nervous she was. Considering her plan actually worked, one would think that Master Hand would like to congratulate them for saving a fellow Smasher, but she never knew what to expect from him. Was he still mad that she barged in and rescued Rob? Or was he relieved that he wouldn't need to lose one of his Smashers?

The fact that he immediately took them to his office and wanted to talk to them right away without waiting until morning arrived didn't help her calm down. Lucina was asked to wait outside so Master Hand could deal with her in private, so only Rob and Robin entered his office once they have arrived at last floor of the hotel.

"Please have a seat," Master Hand said, gesturing at the two chairs in front of his desk.

They did as they were told and timidly took their seats. Their discomfort was incredibly apparent on their faces. So much that when Master Hand spoke next, he used a tone of voice that was a lot softer:

"How do you feel, Robin?"

"Oh, um, I feel okay, I think," he answered.

"Just okay?"

"Well, certainly a lot better than before, if that is what you mean."

"Good, that's actually good to hear," Master Hand said and then turned his attention to Robin. "You have given me quite the headache, female Robin."

"Yes, I know," Robin said with a frown. "I… really can't bring myself to apologize for that, Master Hand. I still stand by the thought that what I did was the right thing."

"I am well aware of this. But I didn't call you to demand an apology."

"Really?" she asked in surprise.

"Robin, I'm not going to lie, I thought your plan was completely insane and risky," the hand explained. "I mean, you asked for Mewtwo's assistance to dive into Robin's mind and bring his true self back without even knowing if Mewtwo was capable of such thing. You risked both your sanity and his. Who knows what might have happened if the parasite actually caught you and made you unable to wake up?"

Both tacticians looked at their feet at that last statement.

"Honestly, I have no idea if you are a mad genius or if you were born with the dumbest luck in the world," Master Hand sighed. "However, you were able to reach out for him and bring him back to normal. So for that, I must thank you."

"O-Oh, if that's the case-"

"Please let me finish," the hand interrupted her. "However, you DID break into my lab with my brother's help, you did kidnap Robin and you did involve both Shulk and Lucina in this absurd plan of yours and motivated them to attack me. I cannot let your actions pass without consequence."

"But if it weren't for her plan, I wouldn't be here to begin with!" Rob protested.

"Rob, the result of her plan doesn't justify her ways," Master Hand explained. "I might lighten up her punishment only because she was able to bring you back, but that's it."

"I suppose that is only fair," Robin lied.

Honestly, she just wanted for that conversation to be over. Even if she had been asleep not long ago, she was just so tired…

"Robin, unfortunately I will have to cut part of your paycheck for next three months."

"You're kidding, right?!"

"Also, I shall take your weapon away from you for the next months," Master Hand continued, preferring to ignore the tactician's comment. "You will only get to touch either your tomes or swords only on the battlefield. The moment your fight is over, I will have a Mii waiting outside the arena to take your weapons from you."

She couldn't care less about not being able to carry her weapons around, but him cutting part her paycheck was beyond cruel! She was already being paid less than Rob. Now he wanted to take more money away from her?

"Okay, fine," she grumbled with gritted teeth. "I guess I can deal with this."

"You better have."

She couldn't deal with this.

"What about Lucina and Shulk?" Rob asked.

"They won't have their payment altered, however they are to stay for a longer period of time without their weapons. They were the ones who attacked me after all."

Robin also had the feeling that he only gave a sort of different punishment for them because he knew she could go on without having her weapons with her better than Lucina and Shulk. When it came to coming up with punishments, Master Hand suddenly knew what ticked his Smashers off very well.

"Now, Robin, we need to talk about this Grima issue of yours," Master Hand said.

"What about it?" Rob asked, fidgeting his hands.

"Do I still need to worry about it? Have you gotten rid of it or is there something you have yet to tell me?"

Rob stopped to ponder about his answer for some good three seconds. What would Master Hand say if he said that no, he didn't get rid of Grima? That he couldn't destroy him, no matter how much he tried to beat him up?

It was better not to risk that moment of peace.

"You don't need to worry about anything," Rob answered. "Grima won't be a bother anymore. Everything is under control."

There was a brief moment of silence between them, with Master Hand trying to judge the situation and both tacticians holding their breath in fear that he would not be convinced by Rob's answer.

Thankfully, Master Hand decided to believe in his words. The tension between them soon dissipated, much to their relief.

"Alright then, I trust you on what you claim," their master said before speaking in a much graver tone, "But still, even after all of this, I suggest you still keep an eye for any oddities that might happen to you. Even if you believe Grima is defeated, we never know if it might come back."

"Oh, absolutely," Robin pipped in. "Wouldn't want another incident, right?"

"I don't think I would forgive myself if that happened again..." Rob mumbled.

"And I guess that is all I wanted to talk to you- Oh, wait! There is one more thing."

"What is it?" he asked.

"This is something I have commented with the female Robin while you slept, but I have been thinking about giving you separate rooms," Master Hand said. "I admit that at first I thought it didn't matter if you had the same room, because well… You are the same person. But it was foolish of me to think like that."

Rob could feel a cold sensation in his stomach. He looked at Robin, who returned the same worried gaze. Did Master Hand know about them?

"Actually, I don't think I want another room," Rob confessed. "I like having Robin as my roommate. It feels less lonely."

"Hmm… Female Robin?" Master Hand asked and turned his attention to her.

"I also would like to keep things as they are," Robin said, equally as nervous. "I like Rob's company. I don't want to be alone."

Master Hand let out a long and withdrawn sigh. He knew about them. He wouldn't stop to consider about giving them separate rooms if he didn't see that maybe they were getting a little too close to each other. Was he going to lash it out on them? Tell them that he would not permit them to be in a relationship because he didn't approve romance between Smashers? Ignore completely what they had said and give them different rooms regardless of their feelings?

"Alright then, if that is how you truly feel, I suppose you two can continue sharing the room," the hand said instead.

"Really?!" Robin asked wide-eyed.

"Even if I gave you separate rooms, I don't think I would be able to separate you. One of you would probably just visit the other and then there would be an empty, unused room for me to worry about."

Both Robins blushed at that last statement.

Master Hand definitely knew what was going on, yet he still refused to say it out loud.

"Anyway, that is all I've wanted to say," the hand said as he went to the door and opened it. "Rest well, Robin. I hope you are in good conditions to fight tomorrow."

And with that said, the tacticians left Master Hand's office.

* * *

With Grima defeated and Rob finally safe from being erased, the Smashers that were caught up in all the drama could finally go on with their lives. Unfortunately, their feelings towards Master Hand had only soured after that.

Shulk grew extremely bitter with everything that had happened. Just the thought of Master Hand trying to kill off one his friends as if he had any right to decide who should live and who should die was enough to make his blood boil. What was once respect turned into a huge grudge that would take a long time to dissipate. If it were to dissipate at all. The fact that Master Hand took the Monado away from him just made his sense of wariness towards him stronger.

Lucina also wasn't all that pleased with their master's conduct, even though she understood his reasons a little better. Still, even if she understood him, that didn't mean she justified his actions. While they were of no ill intentions, he still tried to erase her friend's memories and soul and for that she didn't think she would be able to forgive him in a very long time. And while she was not pleased at all that her Falchion was taken away from her, she understood why he would do such a thing.

What she couldn't understand, however, was the Mii that he chose to guard her weapon. As if having her sword confiscated wasn't already bad enough punishment, now she had to deal with some guy who loved to impersonate her father guarding her weapon. The princess never imagined she one day would have so many ill thoughts towards one stranger, but seeing that ugly mug of his, wearing her father's clothes like it was some costume, wielding her Falchion (that was a gift from her father no less) really did make her want to punch something.

Preferably his face.

As for Peach, who left the whole conflict without any kind of consequences, there were still some issues that she felt like it needed to be taken care of. Now that Robin was finally safe and Lucina could stop worrying about him, maybe now it was the chance she had to finally tell her what were her true feelings towards her friend.

Or maybe she should wait a few more days until she sure Lucina was feeling one hundred percent better. Or maybe she should wait forever, never tell her a thing and wait for her crush on her to go away.

Or maybe…

"Peach, you seem kind of distracted today," Lucina commented as they both left the stadium after their battle was over. "It's not always that you lose to someone without at least taking one of their lives."

"Sorry, I'm not in my best mood today," Peach fidgeted her fingers.

"I haven't been in the best mood lately also," she mumbled.

"Does this have to do with that guy who's dressing up as your father?"

Lucina turned around and saw that hack of a Mii leaving the studio with her sword strapped to his hips.

Oh, and he was now waving at her! The nerve of that man!

"Please, let's not talk about him," she groaned as she turned to face Peach again.

"Right..."

She had to do it. No matter what happened, she couldn't keep it a secret.

"Listen, Lucina..." Peach took a deep breath. "Could we perhaps talk in private?"

"We are already alone."

"I mean, even more alone than that," the blonde said as she looked behind her.

"Peach, just tell me what you have to say," Lucina said and put a hand on her shoulder. "Unless you murdered someone, it can't be that bad, can it?"

"Why would you even say that- Ugh, never mind!" Peach shook her hand off from her shoulder and took another deep breath. "Okay, I can do this."

"Well?"

"Lucina, remember a few days ago when I sort of implied that I liked someone, but that wasn't the time to say anything to them?"

"What about them?" Lucina asked, suddenly sounding uncertain.

"I… um… Well, I just wanted to say," she shook her head. "Maybe I should just show you..."

Lucina could feel her heart accelerate to a dangerous pace as her friend suddenly leaned towards her, lips getting closer and closer to hers. The swordswoman entered in a state of a petrified panic, unable to move or do a thing as she realized all too late who Peach was referring to. Her mind screamed for her to tell Peach to snap out of it, that she didn't feel the same way towards her.

Yet for some strange reason she didn't move, she didn't push her away. Lucina closed her eyes and opened her mouth just slightly, waiting for the inevitable kiss.

Except the inevitable didn't happen. After a few seconds of nothing happening, Lucina hesitantly opened her eyes and saw Peach covering her face with her hands, visibly shaking with nervousness.

"P-Peach?"

"I _can't_!" she shrieked. "I can't, I can't, I can't..."

"Calm down," she said, sternly. "What is the matter?"

"Oh, Lucina, you know already what is the matter!" Peach exclaimed. "I love you, okay? I have loved you for a while! But I just… can't..."

Lucina just waited for the princess to calm down in silence. At that point, she had absolutely no idea how to react.

"I can't bring myself to keep these feelings hidden any longer, it just wasn't fair for you," Peach continued, holding back her nervous tears. "But I know they can't be returned. You still have feelings for Robin and… I guess I just didn't want to ruin our friendship."

"Peach, I..." Lucina bit the inside of her cheek. "It's just like you said… I can't return your feelings now. I don't think I've gotten over Robin enough to allow myself to move on."

"I know."

"And it won't even be good for you, because I don't want you to become some sort of second option!" she pressed on, trying her best to make her friend feel better. "I want you to be happy, Peach. But I don't think I can give this kind of happiness to you. You deserve so much better..."

"Lucina, you don't really have to explain yourself," the princess gave a bittersweet smile. "I told you all of this already aware that it wouldn't lead anywhere."

"And yet you still tried to kiss me."

"Yes, well…" Peach scratched the back of her neck. "Sorry about that."

Lucina wasn't really one that could judge her, considering her actions when Robin had been asleep. Not that she would tell her friend that.

"Aaah, shoot! I forgot my bag at the locker room!" Peach cursed as she suddenly realized why her shoulder felt so light. "If you want to return to the hotel, I'll completely understand. It's just-"

"I'll accompany you, don't worry."

The trip back to the locker room was filled with silence and vague gazes, with neither princess having the courage to look at each other in the eye. Peach just knew everything would be awkward between them after her confession, but it still felt like it was the right thing to do, like she just lifted a huge weight from her shoulders.

Or maybe the light feel really was just her missing her heavy bag. It was probably that.

They reached the locker room in less than three minutes. Peach asked for Lucina to wait by the door while she went to retrieve her pink, flowery stamped bag at the end of the room.

Lucina did as she was told at first. She waited for whole three seconds before following Peach and grabbing her hand. There was a tense pause between them, a heavy air that seemed to suffocate any reasoning behind their actions, before Peach turned around and pulled Lucina closer.

Both of them knew well things couldn't be the same between them after that, but for a moment, they were willing to pretend nothing was wrong.

* * *

Robin wasn't lying when she said that the only reason why she seemed so calm during the entire confrontation with Grima was because she was trying to keep it together for Rob's sake. Once everything was over, it was then when all those events started to take a tool on her. The fact that Rob seemed to be afraid to get that close to her also didn't help at all. After their talk with Master Hand, there was a silent agreement between them that maybe it would be better if they slept in separate beds that night.

And on the next night as well.

But that sense of dread and uneasiness didn't last for long. Rob agreed that he would be taking some sleeping pills for the next couple of nights just so he could have a decent night of sleep, as well as agreeing on searching for professional help regarding his mental state and keep an eye out for any oddities.

Lucario also offered help by checking on his aura every now and then just in case he found anything strange with him. Despite his initial reluctance, Rob ended up allowing the Pokemon to read his aura. He knew Lucario was trustworthy and wouldn't tell Master Hand that Grima still lived in him, as long as he didn't pose a huge threat to Rob. As a result, both tactician and Pokemon ended up becoming really good friends.

Robin, on the other hand, simply refused to search for help. She didn't think that she would feel comfortable enough talking about her problems to a complete stranger and was sure that she could deal with them herself. It might not have been the best decision and she was pretty sure that was pretty much the case, but she still felt more comfortable like this.

Oddly enough, Rob was the one that least resented Master Hand on his decision. He understood his motives and held absolutely no grudges towards him, despite being the one that the hand planned to erase. Robin, on the other hand, had enough grudge towards Master Hand for both of them. He was the one responsible for Rob's problems with Grima to begin with and his best solution was to take his life away. Even if he was trying to play safe, the fact that if it weren't for Lucina calling him out on his actions Rob wouldn't be here with them was enough for her trust on him to completely shatter. The more she could avoid talking to their master, the better.

And Master Hand didn't apologize to him once! How Rob wasn't mad at all was beyond her. At least, that was what it seemed like to her. He could be engulfed in rage for all she knew and was very good at hiding it.

Still, their recovery was slow, but as the months passed by, their bond became as strong as ever. That didn't mean Rob's nightmares ended, but they could now deal with them a lot better. For a while he could feel Grima still trying to take over his mind and he would be lying if he said he wasn't nervous about it actually succeeding every now and then. However, it was nothing as bad as what he went through before and his fears would usually dissipate rather quickly.

It was just as Robin had said. They would be fine.

Many months later, it seemed like their life has returned to normal. As normal as participating in a tournament where a bunch of clones from different kinds of people and creatures fought each other, that is. The Robins' rank, while nothing spectacular compared to fighters like Rosalina or Sheik, was enough to create enough hype for the audience to want to see more of them. That certainly did wonders to their self-esteem.

Rob especially seemed to be getting more and more victories as the time passed by. Not that Robin wasn't getting her fair share of glory, but seeing Rob happy about doing well in the tournament did uplift her spirits a lot too.

"I can't believe you actually killed Dark Pit by meteor smashing him with the Levin sword!" Robin would comment happily as she saw Rob entering their room after another day of fighting. "Congratulations!"

"Thank you- Wait, you've been here this entire time?"

"No, I've watched your fight at the game salon with Shulk. I got here not even ten minutes ago," she explained. "I know this is going to sound mean, but I kind of wish Master Hand never gave him his Monado back. It's a lot harder to beat him at air hockey when he can see the future, that cheater."

"Yeah, I know exactly how you feel," Rob said.

"Anyway, now that you're finally here, where do you want to have dinner this time? Do you want to eat here at the hotel or go somewhere else again?"

"Actually..."

"What is it?"

"Could dinner wait for a moment?" he asked, walking towards his bed.

"Why?"

"Just a moment..."

There was an odd silence from Rob that threw Robin off for a moment and the fact that he now seemed to be searching for something under his bed really didn't help the situation at all. Robin crouched to see what was it that he searched so much, but couldn't see a thing.

"Rob, seriously, what's going on?" she asked once she gave up.

"I knew I shouldn't have left it so far away from reach..." he mumbled and then finally reached for what he was looking for. "Got it!"

"Got it what?"

"I've got something for you."

"Oh?"

Rob crouched away from his bed and took out a medium-sized gift box from under the table. It was wrapped in a very basic light blue paper, nothing too special about it. It felt kind of heavy, but not too much. Robin had no idea what could be inside of it, even if Rob told her the most obvious hint.

"Come on, open it!" he said eagerly, almost like an excited child.

"Okay, okay, calm down," she giggled. "It's almost like you're the one getting the present here."

She opened the box and saw an all too familiar blue, spherical item inside of it.

"A Second Seal?"

Second Seals were items from their home world that permitted a soldier to change classes. So, for example, if a Cleric was tired of just healing the injured at the sidelines and wanted to try out going to the front lines, all she had to do was use a Second Seal to assume a new position in the army. It was pretty useful for soldiers to acquire new skills. Robin herself have used it a few times in the past, but would always go back to being Chrom's faithful strategist in the blink of an eye.

Robin took the Second Seal from the box and inspected it carefully. It wasn't made of the shiny metal that they usually used to create those things. Instead, it was made of paper mache and painted in a nice shade of a grayish blue. There was a small round box where the item's core should be that raised all sorts of questions.

"Did you make this?" she asked instead, still analyzing the homemade Second Seal. "It looks amazing!"

"I may have had some help from Pit," Rob commented with a strange spark in his eyes. "He's surprisingly good with arts and crafts."

"Seriously, it looks pretty good!" she twisted the item once again, trying to get a better look at its core. "But what's up with the box in the middle?"

"This is a special Second Seal."

"Oh, yeah?"

"It changes you into only one class."

"And what class would that be?"

"Bride."

Robin almost let the Second Seal drop at hearing that simple word. She was blushing madly at that point, but nothing that could be compared to at how red Rob's face was at the moment.

Despite all of that, his sheepish smile was as huge as ever.

As if on a cue, she parted the seal in half, only now noticing how loosely glued the two parts were to each other, and took the velvet box in her hands. With trembling hands, she opened the box, only to find a silver ring inside with a single, small purple gemstone.

"This gem is an amethyst," Rob explained. "At least, that's what the lady at the store told me. I just picked it because I thought it suited you."

"A-Ah..." she stuttered, unable to take her eyes off from the ring.

"Robin, I know I already say this a lot, but I love you. I love you and always will," he said, his face getting even redder than before. "Will you marry me?"

Robin simply buried her face on her hands without saying a word. Her entire body was shaking beyond belief and Rob thought for a moment she might pass out.

"Robin? Are you okay?" he asked in concern.

"Yes, yes, YES!" she finally screamed, throwing her arms around his neck. "Oh, Robin, of course I'll marry you!"

"You wi- YES!" he exclaimed in joy as he wrapped his arms around her waist. "Thank you! Thank you so much, Robin!"

Robin could only laugh in joy as she was lifted in the air and was spun around once, before Rob realized that he had no physical strength to continue doing that and lowered her on the floor.

"I promise I'll do my best to make you the happiest woman alive!"

"And I promise to make you the happiest man alive as well," Robin answered and pulled him into a passionate kiss.

Eventually, the two broke apart for air, but not once did they break eye contact. Robin never would have guessed that Rob's dark eyes could shine this bright.

"We should go out and celebrate," she suggested with a grin.

"Where do you propose we go then?"

"How about that bistro we ate at three days ago?"

"But we already went there..."

"Yeah, but it had candle lights, soft music and, honestly, it was a much more romantic place for you to propose to me than this stuffy room," Robin teased as she poked his chest.

"Alright, alright, guess I can't argue with that."

In less than thirty minutes, they changed from their battle attire into more casual clothing and got ready for the night. With fingers intertwined, the tacticians left the room.

They had so much to look forward to…

* * *

**Rob, you suave motherfucker. **

**Anyway, it's finally done! I can't believe I actually went through all of this and I feel kind of sad it's over, but relieved at the same time because now I can move on to other things. I actually liked a lot the universe I created for this story, so I might stick with it for my other future short stories for a while. There is still so much I can explore with the side characters, that I might do just that.**

**I said I would say some curiosities about my thought process for this fic, so here we go:**

**-My original idea for this fic, like I said before, was just a shorter, fluffier romance story between the Robins, with some jokes about how narcissistic they were for dating each other and the like. The whole Grima arc actually became a thing after I watched a film called "The Babadook". Basically, my biggest inspiration for the other half of this story was a psychological horror movie. That might explain the sudden mood shift. I'm not going to give any spoilers for the movie, but for those who have watched it, you might see some similar themes.**

**-Rob's dreamworld and how his subconscious worked was largely inspired by Yume Nikki, because that game is awesome ad I love its visuals.**

**-Speaking of Rob, his proposal was actually taken from a Fire Emblem Awakening comic strip I saw on Tumblr (except it was a Chrobin comic). I just thought it was too cute to not include it here.**

**-My personal headcanon is that both Robins are bisexual. When Lucina confessed her crush to Robin, not once did she say that she wasn't into girls and that she couldn't return Lucina's feelings because of it. It really was just because she was already in a relationship with Rob and had no desire to be with anyone else. **

**-I wish I could have included Shulk more in this fic. The problem is that I couldn't feel as invested in his character as I wanted to be initially. So, sorry about his inconsistent appearances, I really tried.**

**-Peach having a huge crush on Lucina wasn't really something I had in mind from the beginning. Her whole involvement in the story was something that sort of happened, because she originally was supposed to make some cameos here and there. In fact, aside from the main couple, all pairings I write in my fics just sort of happen by accident.**

**-Yeah, about Lucina and Peach ending up together… There was no way I could give a happy ending to these two. Lucina clearly stated that she wasn't ready to move on from her crush on Robin and Peach was aware of that and still tried anyway. I can imagine their relationship not being the healthiest of all (at least in this universe), which is kind of sad, because I ship these two a lot and I think they would have a good chemistry otherwise.**

**-Lucina is basically a blue-haired Cordelia in this story and I don't know if I should laugh or cry at that.**

**-I left the amount of months that passed after the confrontation with Grima vague on purpose. You can decide just how much time has passed until Rob decided to propose to Robin.**

**-I never saw Master Hand as an entirely benevolent character, but I can't see him as a villain either. It is stated that he is the creator, the link between the world of trophies (the world of Smash) and the real world, so I can imagine him being an extremely proud creator because of it. He does care about the Smashers and his other creations, it's just that sometimes he has a hard time reaching out for them and looking through a different point of view that isn't his. Crazy Hand, meanwhile, is supposed to be a more destructive force, so I can imagine him being that annoying little brother that wants to play with his older sibling, but only ends up destroying that one castle card you made just to call for your attention. In other words, both hands are kind of narrow-minded and self-centered, in their own way.**

**Anyway, I guess that's about it. Thank you so much for reading this story and for all the wonderful feedback! I hope this story did inspire some of you to write your own Robin/Robin fics, but if not… I'll just be happy if you enjoyed. Please review and tell me what you thought about this story overall! You guys are amazing!**


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